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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09.17.07 Council Minutes COUNCIL MINUTES PRE-MEETING SEPTEMBER 17, 2007 1. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order by Mayor Soderberg at 6:30 p.m. Members Present: Members Absent: Also Present: Soderberg, Fogarty, McKnight, Pritzlaff, Wilson None Joel Jamnik, City Attorney; Peter Herlofsky, City Administrator; Robin Roland, Finance Director; Lee Mann, Director of Public Works/City Engineer; Lisa Shadick, Administrative Services Director; Brenda Wendlandt, Human Resources Director; Cynthia Muller, Executive Assistant 2. APPROVE AGENDA MOTION by McKnight, second by Wilson to approve the Agenda. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. 3. CITIZEN COMMENTS 4. COUNCIL REVIEW OF AGENDA Councilmember McKnight made a change in the September 10, 2007 Workshop minutes. Regarding the Vermillion River Crossing revised development documents, it states they put money aside to help build the road, and it also states nothing herein is intended to or shall release VRC from its obligations from the development contract. He asked if the current development contract includes wording for the road to connect to the bridge. City Attorney Jamnik replied no, that will be discussed further. Councilmember McKnight stated he will ask these questions at the next meeting. City Attorney Jamnik noted these documents are to resolve the current lawsuit and the City's participation is to authorize the release from the escrow account. The funds already encumbered by improvements by the contractors are a settlement of amounts due to them for work already done on the project. Once the settlement is done, that closes the looking back on the project. They then have a closing to transfer the proj ect to the new developer and reaffirm all the financing documents. As part of that, Council's April action to allow the transfer ofthe development contract and to amend the development contract to specifically address the road construction and the transfer to the letter of credit financing will either come back to Councilor be approved by Council in general terms. In April the Council allowed the transfer and agreed with the financing changes if VRC agrees to build Duschene Avenue by August 1, 2007. That deadline has passed and they have not resolved their underlying dispute. Staffhas discussed with them that one of the City's expectations would be, if the Council Minutes (Pre-Meeting) September 17,2007 Page 2 agreements are revised to allow the transfer and allow the other contracts to say there is not a default ofthe situation, the Council would expect the construction ofDuschene Avenue within 30 days. We have to close the past, have the new developer in place with the new financing and then construction will proceed on the project. The closing is anticipated later this week or next week. There may be a Special Council Meeting next Monday or around the closing date to effectuate the review of the revised documents. The City is looking at 30 days from the closing to having the gravel base put down and the road open. Council decided to move items lla) and b) regarding ordinance amendments to the October 17, 2007 workshop. Councilmember Wilson asked about the personnel issue and if there was any cost to the City. Staff replied there is none. Regarding the 2008 preliminary tax levy and budget, he distributed some information on surrounding cities on their taxes. Councilmember Pritzlaff noted Akin Road will be designated a tree route. The trees would be between the sidewalk and the road, but there is a bike path and at times the path is adjacent to the road. Staff noted the intent was for collector streets to have boulevard trees. Akin Road has some existing conditions where the City would not plant boulevard trees. In the future, if there is further development which would expand the roadway or different sidewalk configurations boulevard trees would be reviewed. The intention to keep boulevard trees along collector routes was for the future. Mayor Soderberg asked about Vermillion River Crossing and if the amount of escrow is already encumbered so that would be released to pay the items in the lawsuit. City Attorney J amnik replied there is more than sufficient money in the escrow account to pay the claims to settle the lawsuits plus part of the refinancing is to re-examine the escrow account. In April Council approved a reduction of the letter of credit or transfer from the escrow account to a letter of credit security. It has not been determined ifthe escrow account will continue or ifthere will be a letter of credit for the public improvements. One problem is the costs ofthose improvements have not been updated. The current development agreement with VRC contemplates a revision to the security amount ifthe engineering estimates need to be revised due to delays in the project. The City has the authority to increase the security. Mayor Soderberg added a presentation from Chad Collignon ofthe Farmington Rotary to the agenda. Councilmember Pritzlaff received a question from a resident regarding the area along Flagstaff Avenue south of CSAH 50 and why is it dug 4-6 ft. deep. City Engineer Mann noted the southerly end of where they are digging is where they will be connecting to the Met Council interceptor. They have done a sub-cut and will come back to connect to the sewer and have less to dig through. Council Minutes (Pre-Meeting) September 17, 2007 Page 3 Councilmember Wilson mentioned the information for the retreat stated one of the priorities is to establish short term and revise long term plans. City Administrator Herlofsky noted this will be added to the agenda. 5. STAFF COMMENTS 6. ADJOURN MOTION by Pritzlaff, second by McKnight to adjourn at 6:51 p.m. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. Respectfully submitted, /l .. :/-:/~ ~ Jr7~ 0/Y'~ v Cynthia Muller Executive Assistant COUNCIL MINUTES REGULAR SEPTEMBER 17, 2007 1. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order by Mayor Soderberg at 7:00 p.m. 2. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Mayor Soderberg led the audience and Council in the Pledge of Allegiance. 3. ROLL CALL Members Present: Members Absent: Also Present: Audience: Soderberg, Fogarty, McKnight, Pritzlaff, Wilson None Joel Jamnik, City Attorney; Peter Herlofsky, City Administrator; Robin Roland, Finance Director; Lee Mann, Director of Public Works/City Engineer; Lisa Shadick, Administrative Services Director; Brenda Wendlandt, Human Resources Director; Cynthia Muller, Executive Assistant Dale Lomas, Chad Collignon, Randy Oswald, Gregg Stellick, Stan Knutson, Bob Knutson, Thomas and Susan Hotchkiss 4. APPROVE AGENDA Councilmember McKnight made a change to the September 10, 2007 Workshop minutes. Mayor Soderberg pulled items Ila) and b) Amend Ordinances to be discussed at the October 17, 2007 Workshop. He added 5b) Presentation by Farmington Rotary. MOTION by Wilson, second by McKnight to approve the Agenda. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. 5. ANNOUNCEMENTS a) Mr. Bob Knutson - Vermillion River Crossing Mr. Knutson stated they are coming to a close on the Vermillion River Crossings project. He extended their appreciation to Council for their patience. He hoped there would be a closing the end of this week and would like to come to the next Council meeting to introduce the development team and answer detailed questions. b) Mr. Chad Collignon - Farmington Rotary Mr. Collignon gave a presentation on the Farmington Rotary. 6. CITIZEN COMMENTS Mr. Dale Lomas, 425 Whispering River Lane, represented the First Presbyterian Church. He feels the church has been charged an unjust assessment for the mill and overlay Council Minutes (Regular) September 17,2007 Page 2 project. He read several statements contained in the assessment policy regarding fair and equitable assessments. He felt there is a lot of leeway in the policy. The policy includes using 150 linear feet as a designated frontage for buildable lot units. The church feels this would be appropriate. He also requested all of the assessments for the area. He asked how people are being assessed that use that street heavily. There is an apartment complex with four 8-unit apartments which comes to 24 units. They are paying $12,000 for 24 units. The church is assessed $15,000. There are two large units, 18-unit apartments, 1321 and 1337 Centennial. They were assessed $985. The church's main concern is if a 24-unit apartment building is assessed with all the use they put on the street, the City has got to give some consideration to the church property. The policy speaks about fairness and that is what the church would like. 7. CONSENT AGENDA MOTION by Pritzlaff, second by Fogarty to approve the Consent Agenda as follows: a) Approved Council Minutes (9/4/07 Regular) (9/5/07 & 9110/07 Special) b) Received Information August 2007 Financial Report - Finance c) Approved School and Conference - Parks and Recreation d) Acknowledged Customer Service Response Report - Administration Councilmember Wilson congratulated Administrative Services Director Shadick and her team for the City being responsive to citizen requests. He also thanked residents for responding to the survey. e) Acknowledged City Participation in Fall Auction - Administration f) Moved Ordinance Amendment for Detached Garages, Storage Sheds and Accessory Structures to October 17, 2007 Workshop g) Approved Bills h) Approved Personnel Issue - Human Resources i) Approved Liquor License Amendment Eagle's Club - Administration APIF, MOTION CARRIED. 8. PUBLIC HEARINGS a) Approve Therapeutic Massage License - Administration Ms. Susan Hotchkiss has applied for a therapeutic massage license to practice out of her home at 19975 Export Trail. The Planning Commission granted a Conditional Use Permit to have this business in an R-l zoning district. Councilmember Pritzlaff asked about the hours business would be conducted. Ms. Hotchkiss replied the hours will be from 1 :00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m. Tuesday- Friday and 12:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. on Saturday. She would do two or three massages per day. MOTION by McKnight, second by Wilson to close the public hearing. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. MOTION by Fogarty, second by Pritzlaffto approve a Therapeutic Massage license for Susan Hotchkiss at 19975 Export Trail. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. Council Minutes (Regular) September 17, 2007 Page 3 b) Adopt Resolution - 2007 Seal Coat Project Assessment - Engineering The total project cost is $186,000. The assessment amount is $76.70 per residential equivalent unit. The total amount to be assessed is $93,000. The City's portion of$93,000 will be funded through the road and bridge fund. One objection was received from Larry and Shannon Walsh, 816 2nd Street. The main item has to do with the calculation of the amount per residential equivalent unit. In March the Walsh's requested some information and there was an error in one of the items as far as the number of units in the project. There are 1,208 units included in the project. The calculations were correct in the feasibility report and in the assessment role. Staffwill provide a response to the Walsh's. Councilmember Wilson asked staff to check on the manhole cover on his street that had been partially covered. MOTION by McKnight, second by Pritzlaffto close the public hearing. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. MOTION by Fogarty, second by Pritzlaffto adopt RESOLUTION R70-07 adopting the assessment roll for the 2007 Seal Coat project. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. 9. AWARD OF CONTRACT 10. PETITIONS, REQUESTS AND COMMUNICATIONS a) City Hall Change Order - Administration There was a request by the owner of the Dueber's building to provide water service to their building. The amount of the change order is $1,844 and the City will be reimbursed by the property owner. Councilmember McKnight noted $44,422.26 has been spent on equipment. Staff noted that is for the LaserFiche equipment. MOTION by McKnight, second by Wilson to approve change order no. 1 for City Hall. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. b) Development Contract Amendment Request - Sunrise Ponds - Engineering Sunrise Ponds development has requested an extension on the completion date for some items in their development contract. Staff will research this request and bring it to the October 1, 2007 Council meeting. Councilmember Fogarty asked that a definite completion date be determined. 11. UNFINISHED BUSINESS Council Minutes (Regular) September 17,2007 Page 4 12. NEW BUSINESS a) Adopt Resolution - 200S Preliminary Tax Levy and Budget - Finance The 2008 tax levy needs to be certified to Dakota County by September 17, 2007. Once the proposed levy is adopted, the Council may lower the levy, but cannot increase it. The 2008 levy is proposed at $8,869,916 which is $943,139 or 11 % over the 2007 levy. The debt levy increase includes the first year of debt on the new City Hall project. The tax base reflects an increase of 8.6% for 2008 which is a reflection ofthe slow down in the housing market. The net amount ofthe increase is higher than the gross amount and is due to a number of TIP districts have been decertified for 2008. Five years ago there were 14 TIP districts which amounted to well over $1 million in tax base value that was not able to be included in the calculation. There are now three TIP districts. As of 2008 the downtown district, which has been a TIP district since 1974, will no longer be a TIP district. That amount for the downtown will be returned to the full tax rolls in 2008. The tax rate is 43.7% for 2008. General fund revenues are estimated at $9,062,609 with over 70% from property taxes. Expenditures are proposed to increase by 6.4% over the 2007 adopted budget. The increase is due to salary and benefit contractual obligations, PERA increases, new positions, IT charges and capital outlay. The proposed capital outlay for 2008 totals $284,812. This is for replacement vehicles and equipment. Additional staff proposed is a new detective, an administrative support person shared by the Fire Department and Human Resources, and two position upgrades. Staff does not anticipate more than $500,000 in 2008 in building permit revenues and other licenses. After a discussion with Council at the workshop regarding liquor store profits which normally go to park and recreation functions, there has been a shift of $50,000 from general fund transfers to the Rambling River Center and the pool. Those funds will be obtained from the liquor profits instead. Therefore, the increase to expenditures is 6.4% for 2008. The expenditures budget also includes spending five months in the new City Hall building. On a median value home, this amounts to an increase of$48 per year. Councilmember McKnight noted the 11.9% is big, but once the new construction and TIP districts are back on, it is much lower. When residents receive their truth-in-taxation statements in November that is when they need to comment to Council. Council is not done adjusting the budget. Councilmember Wilson asked that the budget information be placed on the website. Staff noted the presentation will be on the website tomorrow and a copy will be at the library. The budget highlights will also be on the website. He noted even though the increase is modest, one of the goals of Council is to be as competitive and attractive to the home buyer as possible. Farmington is not the most competitive community to live in. Councilmember Pritzlaff noted when the budget was presented to Council earlier, there were more new positions proposed. He was happy to see after the workshop and due to the slow economy, new positions have been reduced. Council Minutes (Regular) September 17, 2007 Page 5 MOTION by Pritzlaff, second by McKnight to adopt RESOLUTION R71-07 certifying the 2008 Preliminary Tax Levy to Dakota County and establishing December 3,2007 at 7:00 p.m. as the Truth in Taxation hearing for tax levy collectible in 2008. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. b ) Vermillion River Crossing Revised Development Documents - City Attorney City Attorney Jamnik presented the Settlement Agreement and Mutual Release of Claims for Vermillion River Crossings LLC project. Council's approval is required to approve disbursement from the escrow account that is securing construction of the necessary improvements in the project. The escrow account was set up with stipulations that draws on the account have to be co-signed by Dougherty Financing and the City of Farmington. The settlement proposed is tapping that escrow account for payment of approximately $220,000 worth of claims in order to resolve the lawsuit. Upon resolution of the lawsuit and execution of the settlement documents, the parties will proceed to close to transfer the development project, assign the project, and re-establish financing for it. In order to do this, the lawsuit needs to be resolved. It is a six-party lawsuit. The City is not a party to it, but is a signatory to the settlement because we are approving the disbursement of funds from the escrow account. The transfer will re-establish funds securing this City's public improvements with regard to the project. The second Amendment to the Development Contract and Consent to Transfer will be brought to Council next Monday. MOTION by Fogarty, second by McKnight to approve the disbursement of funds from escrow according to the Settlement Agreement. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. 13. COUNCIL ROUNDTABLE a) Review Retreat Content - Administration Staffwanted to ensure there was consensus from the Council to use Mr. Craig Rapp as the facilitator for the Council retreat. b) Chippendale Avenue Utility Service Issues - Engineering Staffhas had contact with residents in the southeast area of the City, with Chippendale Avenue being on the west side and in the vicinity of the pool. These residents reside in Castle Rock Township and some have issues with their sewer and water service and some residents would like to be annexed into the City. Staffwill meet with the residents and township representatives to discuss the issues and a plan to go forward. There are six property owners that the proposed improvements could serve, however, there are only two or three that are interested in paying the costs at this time. Councilmember McKnight stated staff should follow the terms of the Orderly Annexation Agreement. Councilmember Fogarty: Encouraged everyone to attend the Homecoming events this week. Council Minutes (Regular) September 17,2007 Page 6 Councilmember Wilson: The Fall Park and Recreation guide is out. His family will be participating in the Get Ready campaign being offered. Councilmember PritzIaff: A resident contacted him as to why the lights are on at night on the new bridge and how long have they been on. City Engineer Mann noted the lights are on to deter unwanted activities. Staffwill research the cost. City Attorney Jamnik: He asked if Council is available for a Special Council Meeting on Monday, September 24, 2007 for the Vermillion River Crossing documents. Councilmembers are available. Mayor Soderberg: This is Homecoming week and there are activities every night. He encouraged residents to attend. Pollution Prevention Day was held on Friday. He recognized employees Lena Larson, Kellee Omlid, Missie Kohlbeck, Jen Collova, Wendy Conboy, Rachael Roe, Todd Reiten, Don Hayes, Benno Klotz, Ted Novak, Dan Thielbar, Tim Larson, Jake Grim, Jeff Olson, Danielle Cahlander and Lisa Shadick for their work in making it a successful event. Last Thursday Lillian's opened downtown. It is a new boutique for women. They are open one weekend a month for four days. This Saturday Trinity Care Center is having a Fall Festival. It is a fundraiser for the Trinity campus from 3:00 p.m. -7:30 p.m. September 29 the downtown businesses will hold a Fun Fest. There will be information in the newspaper and staffwill place it on the cable channel. 14. ADJOURN MOTION by Fogarty, second by McKnight to adjourn at 8:09 p.m. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. Respectfully submitted, 7d~Jr7~ Cynthia Muller Executive Assistant