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Home My WebLink About03.14.16 Work Session Minutes City Council Workshop March 14,2016 Acting Mayor Donnelly called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. Present: Donnelly,Bartholomay, Bonar,Pitcher Absent: Larson Also Present: David McKnight, City Administrator;Robin Hanson,Finance Director;Adam Kienberger, Community Development Director;Kevin Schorzman, City Engineer;Jim Larson, Fire Chief; Fire Department Members Jeff Allbee, Mark Arens,Doug Rowe; Cynthia Muller, Executive Assistant MOTION by Bartholomay, second by Bonar to approve the agenda. APIF,MOTION CARRIED. Metro Cities Presentation Patricia Nauman,Metro Cities Executive Director,would like Farmington to join Metro Cities. Metro Cities has 91 members throughout the metro. Farmington was a member until 2009 due to budget cuts. This organization develops 70 legislative policies each year and advocates for cities at the legislature and Met Council. They are different from the League of Minnesota Cities in that they take a metro-centric approach and protect metro cities. LMC is a statewide approach. Metro Cities has appointing authority to various legislative committees. Metro Cities does not lobby on individual city bills, but can help with the process. They are an extension of city staff. The city benefits whether we are a member or not as they lobby on behalf of the entire metro. Membership makes the relationship with local legislators more beneficial. Without membership you miss having input into legislative policies. Regarding Met Council appointments,Ms. Nauman explained the Governor appoints a nominating committee. Metro Cities is asked for recommendations from cities to serve on that committee. They strive for diversity in cities within the metro and the outskirts. It is a requirement to have three city officials on the nominating committee. The Board of Directors has authorized a 50%membership discount for the first year, so the first year fee would be$3,800. Council will discuss this further with the 2017 budget process. Farmington Fire Relief Association Pension Request Mr.Jeff Allbee,Fire Relief Association President, stated the city has been asked to contribute $150,000 to their pension for the last three years. The Relief Association is now in a good position. They are asking for a pension increase for 2017 from$4,575 to$5,500, in 2018 to $6,250, in 2019 to $7,000 and in 2020 to$7,500. At a minimum the pension fund should be 115%funded,then no city contribution is required. If it falls below 100%,the city has to contribute. The 2017 increase brings their portfolio to 130%funded. They are not asking for a city contribution increase. The requested increase is for the retention of fire fighters. Other cities are above us and will be at$10,000 by 2020. The increased liability of going from $4,575 to $5,500 is $46,000. There are two members with 20 years of service and they will be leaving in the next year(funding for them is already available). There is one member at 15 years of service. Members have to have ten years to be vested,but only get 60%of their pension. The pension amount is increased 4%each year. Council Workshop Minutes March 14,2016 Page 2 The Relief Association would like to see us at$7,500 by 2020 to be consistent with other cities. They have not had a raise since 2009. The requested raise would be effective January 1,2017. In 2009 they were 98%funded so the city was not required to contribute. City Administrator McKnight recommended approval for 2017 and this will be discussed again next year. This item will be brought to a Council meeting for approval. The majority of Council agreed to a one year increase. Request for Fire Department at High School Football Games The Farmington High School has requested the fire department be available at high school football games. This would involve four fire department members and equipment costs. The school district contracts with ALF for ambulance service. Chief Larson noted fire fighters are not as trained as paramedics and cannot transport patients to the hospital. Fire and rescue would be on the scene to assist and coordinate resources getting into the stadium. There are currently two police officers at football games. The ambulance is not on scene. The school district has hired a doctor to be on scene and he would call for the ambulance. Firefighters are licensed up to an EMT or EMR level. The vehicle used would be a light rescue truck or utility vehicle. Chief Larson is not comfortable with any event with 5,000 people and no standby. The cost would be $3,000 -$4,000 per night. Council supported the request. Community Solar Subscriber Collaborative The City Council had authorized staff to subscribe to solar production through a collaborative RFP process with the Met Council. Xcel Energy is required to produce a percentage of its total retail electric sales through solar energy by 2020. Five developers responded to the RFP. The City Council was asked to review the proposal from SolarStone Community LLC. It has been estimated that 1,649 kWh/1 KW of solar energy would be needed for City Hall,the Rambling River Center and the Ice Arena. The contract would be a 25-year commitment and would provide a savings of$189,357 over 25 years. The first two years we would not have a savings. The savings would show up as a credit on the Xcel Energy utility bills. The solar gardens for our use would be located in Goodhue and Rice counties. Council discussed this item and had many questions. Council decided to not move forward with the project. There is not enough specific information and the contract is non-negotiable. 20-Year Financial Plan and 2017 Budget Staff used the 2016 expenditures of$14,769,073 as a starting point, subtracted the debt of $2,970,848 which left$11,798,225 as a base 2016 operating levy number. The operating budget pays for everything except debt. This number was increased 3%in 2017 and 2018, and 5%in 2019. This was repeated every three years. These costs cover labor, etc.,with the third year increase of 5%assuming we have growth in staffing. In 2011 and 2012 we tried the CIP approach with fire and other departments with equipment. Firefighter equipment shows a$9,000 increase each year for three years. Police equipment will increase$36,000 in 2017 and 2018. This is equipment only,not vehicles. Trail maintenance is increased by$15,000 each year. We currently budget$30,000. For the building CIP we collect$36,000 in taxes and LGA money for $30 million in buildings which is not enough. The 2%industry standard would be$600,000 which is not realistic for us. Larger dollar amounts were included in years we could afford it. Regarding revenues other than taxes, staff used the 2016 number and increased it by 1% Council Workshop Minutes March 14,2016 Page 3 annually. The fiscal disparities 2016 number has been decreased by 2% annually. The debt levy in 2017, 2018 and 2019 goes up and after that it goes down. The pay as we go line item is to collect cash to pay for equipment and street projects as we go to avoid using credit. The potential levy increase for 2017 is 5.03%, in 2018 7.62%, and 2019 7.05%. The debt as a percent of the overall levy in 2017 is 31.54%. Growth is projected at 1.29%for the next several years. The CIP and 2017 budget discussion will continue at the March 28, 2016, Council workshop. MOTION by Bartholomay, second by Pitcher to adjourn at 8:51 p.m. APIF,MOTION CARRIED. Respectfully submitted, Cynthia Muller Executive Assistant