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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02.22.05 Council Minutes COUNCIL MINUTES PRE-MEETING February 22, 2005 1. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order by Acting Mayor Fogarty at 6:30 p.m. Members Present: Members Absent: Also Present: Fogarty, McKnight, Pritzlaff, Wilson Soderberg Joel Jamnik, City Attorney; David Urbia, City Administrator; Robin Roland, Finance Director; Kevin Carroll, Community Development Director; Randy Distad, Parks and Recreation Director; Lee Mann, Director of Public Works/City Engineer; Lisa Shadick, Administrative Services Director; Brenda Wendlandt, Human Resources Director; Lee Smick, City Planner; 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 a) Council Appointments to LMC and AMM Policy Committees City Administrator Urbia provided a list of policy committees. Council chose the following LMC committees they would like to attend: Improving Fiscal Futures Policy Committee - City Administrator Urbia, Councilmember Pritzlaff Improving Local Economies Policy Committee - Community Development Director Carroll, Councilmember Wilson Personnel: Human Resources and Data Practices Policy Committee - Councilmember McKnight AMM Policy Committees: Housing & Economic Development - Councilmember Fogarty Municipal Revenue & Taxation - Councilmember McKnight Transportation & General Legislation - Councilmember Pritzlaff Metropolitan Agencies - Councilmember Wilson City Administrator Urbia will forward dates of AMM Policy Committees to Council. Council and staff reviewed the regular Council meeting agenda. Council Minutes (Regular) February 22, 2005 Page 2 5. STAFF COMMENTS a) Discussion of Sign Ordinance Violations There has been an escalation in the number of signs that violate the code. Staff asked Council what their philosophy is regarding enforcing this code. Staff asked if Council wanted staff to inform the businesses directly of the violation, or wait until a resident complaint is received. Staff reviewed the code regulations. Staff has identified the sign violators. For the minor violations, staffwill send out a letter. For the serious violations, they will contact the owner and invite them in for a meeting and give them the letter in person. Council agreed staff should enforce the ordinance and agreed with staffs recommendation. Staffwill also provide solutions to the businesses. b) Council Items for March 1,2005 Joint Council/School Board Meeting City Administrator Urbia received a list of agenda items for possible discussion at the March 1 meeting. Council and staff discussed the items. This will be discussed further during the regular Council Meeting. 6. ADJOURN MOTION by McKnight, second by Pritzlaffto adjourn at 6:58 p.m. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. Respectfully submitted, ~?V7~ ~hia Muller Executive Assistant COUNCIL MINUTES REGULAR February 22, 2005 1. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order by Acting Mayor Fogarty at 7:00 p.m. 2. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Acting Mayor Fogarty led the audience and Council in the Pledge of Allegiance. 3. ROLL CALL Members Present: Members Absent: Also Present: Audience: Fogarty, McKnight, Pritzlaff, Wilson Soderberg Joel Jamnik, City Attorney; David Urbia, City Administrator; Robin Roland, Finance Director; Kevin Carroll, Community Development Director; Randy Distad, Parks and Recreation Director; Lee Mann, Director of Public Works/City Engineer; Lisa Shadick, Administrative Services Director; Brenda Wendlandt, Human Resources Director; Tim Gross, Assistant City Engineer; Cynthia Muller, Executive Assistant Chris and Tom Gindorff, Karen Neal, The Dakota Dreamcatchers, Troy and Matt Corrigan, Dan and Trevor Ausen, Pat and Adam Wrucke, Shelly Eldridge 4. APPROVE AGENDA Councilmember Wilson pulled item 7i) Authorize Use of Eminent Domain Ash Street Project. Councilmember Pritzlaff pulled items 7k) Approve Easement Acquisition - Ash Street Project and 71) Approve Bills. City Administrator Urbia proposed to delete item 12a) Council Appointments to LMC and AMM Policy Committees as this was handled during the pre-Council Meeting. MOTION by Pritzlaff, second by Wilson to approve the Agenda. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. 5. ANNOUNCEMENTS 6. CITIZEN COMMENTS Ms. Elise Schroeder, President of Dakota Dreamcatchers 4-H Club, gave an update on the 2005 chair project for the Rambling River Center. Their goal is to raise $9,000 to buy 150 chairs. They have cash and pledges for 135 chairs. They thanked the sponsors for their donations. On Sunday, February 27, they will be hosting a pancake breakfast at the American Legion to raise the remaining amount needed. Council congratulated them on their good work. Council Minutes (Regular) February 22, 2005 Page 2 7. CONSENT AGENDA MOTION by McKnight, second by Pritzlaffto approve the Consent Agenda as follows: a) Approved Council Minutes (2/7/05 Regular) b) Received Information Parks and Recreation Commission Minutes - Parks and Recreation Approved School and Conference - Parks and Recreation Adopted RESOLUTION R15-05 Accepting Donation to the Reuse-A-Shoe Program - Parks and Recreation Approved Capital Outlay - Parks and Recreation Approved Appointment Recommendation - Human Resources Adopted RESOLUTION R16-05 Approving No Parking Restriction Ash Street Project - Engineering h) Received Information Capital Outlay - Public Works j) Approved Change Order - Main Street Phase 1 Project - Engineering APIF, MOTION CARRIED. c) d) e) f) g) i) Authorize Use of Eminent Domain Ash Street Project - Engineering City Engineer Mann provided a history ofthe Ash Street project. The easterly utility construction was done in 2004. The actual street reconstruction is in the County's CIP for 2005. Construction will start in April, and in order for this to happen some permanent and temporary easements are needed. The quick take process is 90 days from date of notice. Staff provided Council with a spreadsheet showing the easements needed. Councilmember Pritzlaff and engineering staff have met with a property owner regarding some trees that are on the City right-of- way and some that are on the line. Staffwill continue to work with the owner. Councilmember Pritzlaffthen asked about a sidewalk on the north side of Ash Street. City Engineer Mann stated a sidewalk has been designed into the plan and all property owners adjacent to the construction were invited to an open house in November 2004. Staff has communicated with residents through a public hearing, the November open house, one-on-one meetings with the property owners, and there will be a future open house. When appraisals and surveys have been received letters have been sent to residents informing them the project is coming, an easement is needed, a meeting will be arranged, and the letter refers to the quick take process. Councilmember Wilson felt the sidewalk will be useful during the fair and anytime families are going for a walk. Councilmember McKnight asked staff to do what they can to save the trees. Councilmember Pritzlaff noted the resident said if the trees were moved back 5 feet, there would not be enough room to build a house. City Engineer Mann stated the lot is large enough to be buildable. Whether the existing improvements would be allowed to stay is questionable. The Planning division will have to review this situation. Mr. Shane Haugen, 1021 6th Street, noted everyone is in favor ofthe sidewalk for one week during the fair. He stated he would be more than willing to let each Councilmember take their turn shoveling the sidewalk in the winter when no one is using it. He stated it is a waste oftime for the City to install 175 ft. of sidewalk on his property for one week during the year. If the City wants it, the City should Council Minutes (Regular) February 22, 2005 Page 3 maintain it. City Engineer Mann stated staffhas discussed that along county roads trails are typically maintained by the City and this is a sidewalk along a county road so it is open for discussion. Staff will bring this to Council as a discussion item. Mr. Haugen stated he would like an answer as he has been fighting this for 6 months. Councilmember Fogarty stated she has been an advocate for that sidewalk for a multitude of reasons. There is an elementary school in the area. Mr. Haugen stated the children do not walk east-west, they walk north-south. Mr. Dick Graelish noted when there is heavy rain, he has to pump the parking lot for the apartment building. MOTION by Pritzlaff, second by McKnight, adopting RESOLUTION R17-05 authorizing condemnation of property for public uses with the "quick take" provision. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. h) Capital Outlay - Public Works (Councilmember Pritzlaffpulled item 7k in error). Councilmember Pritzlaff asked what the amount of the vehicle is. City Engineer Mann stated as long as items have been within the budgeted amount, the amount has not been included in the memo. If Council would like this information staff will provide it in the future. The vehicle was budgeted at $31,000 and came in $2,000 below that. Council agreed they would like this information in the future. k) Approve Easement Acquisition - Ash Street Project - Engineering MOTION by Wilson, second by McKnight approving the easement acquisition- Ash Street project. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. I) Approve Bills Councilmember Pritzlaff asked about the amount for the Nextel phones and if that amount was standard. Finance Director Roland stated that is the monthly dollar amount for the Nextel bill. The cost two years ago was around $48,000 for the year. Since then, Administrative Services Director Shadick redid the contract with Nextel and took advantage of a savings. The yearly amount now is approximately $30,000. MOTION by McKnight, second by Wilson to approve the bills. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. 8. PUBLIC HEARINGS a) Approve Therapeutic Massage License - Administration Ms. Kelly Helleson has submitted an application for renewal of a Therapeutic Massage License at Reach for the Stars, 308 Oak Street. MOTION by McKnight, second by Wilson to close the public hearing. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. MOTION by Pritzlaff, second by Wilson approving a Therapeutic Massage License for Kelly Helleson at 308 Oak Street. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. Council Minutes (Regular) February 22, 2005 Page 4 b) NPDES Phase II Annual Report - Engineering Assistant City Engineer Tim Gross presented the NPDES Phase II Annual Report and Storm Water Pollution Prevention Program for 2004. The report includes information on the NPDES Phase II overview, SWPPP overview, status of compliance with permit conditions, appropriateness ofBMP's in the SWPPP, and progress in achieving measurable goals. The report must be submitted to the MPCA by March 10,2005. MOTION by Pritzlaff, second by McKnight to close the public hearing. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. MOTION by Wilson, second by Pritzlaff approving the report. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. 9. AWARD OF CONTRACT 10. PETITIONS, REQUESTS AND COMMUNICATIONS a) Adopt Ordinance - Signs for Non-Residential Uses in Residential Zoning Districts - Community Development Currently the code allows one monument sign in residential districts. Staff proposed for permitted nonresidential uses, one freestanding monument sign be allowed per street frontage if an access drive is present. The Planning Commission has approved this recommendation. MOTION by McKnight, second byPritzlaffto adopt ORDINANCE 005-523 amending Section 10-6-3(B) 2 subd. C to allow one sign per street frontage when an access drive is present for a nonresidential use in the residential zoning district. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. b) Adopt Resolution - Revising 2004 Budget - Finance General fund revenues are 95% of the budgeted revenue for 2004. Shortfalls came in the areas of licenses and permits and charges for services. Previously, staff discussed with Council the difference in building permit revenue for 2004. Staff modified the revenue projections at mid-year. The original budget was for 440 building permits and was revised to 300 at mid-year. At the end of the year there were 227 building permits. Other areas exceeded budgeted revenues, however the total budgeted revenue of $6,052,824 was not met. Expenditures far exceeded the budget primarily due to personnel costs. There were additional staffing levels. Additional stafftime was needed to finalize a backlog of building permits. The police department had an exceptional amount of personal leave used by officers. There was also a computational error in the original budget which has been corrected for the 2005 budget. The fire department was over budget due to additional state aid. The streets division was over budget due to where salaries were budgeted and where hours were actually worked. Parks and recreation was over due to overtime, comp time and seasonal staffing required for programs. Councilmember Wilson had asked if some if this was due to the Dew Days celebration. Staff cannot quantify what the actual dollar value is, but that would have contributed to overtime and staffing budgets. Staff is reviewing how to quantify this with a dollar amount. The preliminary analysis shows a net reduction to the fund balance of $647,469. This would bring the fund balance to Council Minutes (Regular) February 22, 2005 Page 5 21 % of annual operating expenditures. Council has tried to follow a policy of 35%-45% fund balance. Two years ago the City had a 43% fund balance, and at the end of2003, the City was at 35%. The proposed resolution would adjust the budget to reflect what was discussed at the workshops in June and October. One solution, as a one time only occurrence, was to put all of the franchise fee revenue into the general fund for 2004, which was done. The budget does not reflect another solution which is taking all of the investment income revenue from the City's pooled portfolio and splitting it between the general fund and the water fund. That split of75% to the general fund and 25% to the water fund would help alleviate the revenue shortfall. There would then be a 25% fund balance. The auditors felt this would be a reasonable response to this situation. Council and staff discussed various areas of the budget. Councilmember Wilson would like to revisit the building permit numbers mid- year. Finance Director Roland explained that mid-year 2005 when budgets are revised, staffwill ask Council to make it official and actually revise the reports that are distributed. When the budget was prepared for 2005, staffput less reliance on non-tax forms of revenue. The 2005 budget assumes there will be less than 350 new homes built. Councilmember Pritzlaff asked if in 2005 the fund balance would be low again, and are we over-staffed. Finance Director Roland replied staff has discussed delaying hiring positions. Rather than hire at the beginning of the year, some positions will be hired during the year, saving money. MOTION by Pritzlaff, second by Wilson to adopt RESOLUTION R18-05 revising the 2004 budget to reflect an allocation of investment income as discussed at the October budget workshop. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. 11. UNFINISHED BUSINESS a) Adopt Resolution - Sale of Refunding Bonds - Finance Ms. Shelly Eldridge of Ehlers & Associates, stated they received three bids for the sale of $2,640,000 General Obligation Improvement Refunding Bonds. Piper J affray & Company was the low bidder at a net interest rate of 3 .49%. The City's bond rating from Moody's remains at an A2 rating. The bond issue was reduced to $2,595,000. The interest savings amounts to $143,000 over ten years. Finance Director Roland explained refunding of bonds was started in January 2004. Four have been done since then. The total savings for those four issues over the next ten years amounts to $619,684. MOTION by Wilson, second by Pritlzaffto adopt RESOLUTION R19-05 awarding the sale of the $2,595,000 G.O. Improvement Refunding Bonds of2005A to Piper Jaffray. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. 12. NEWBUSINESS 13. COUNCIL ROUNDTABLE Council Minutes (Regular) February 22, 2005 Page 6 Councilmember Pritzlaf/: Finance Director Roland did a good job and we have things to look forward to. He thanked Community Development Director Carroll for his work on the GRE issue. Councilmembers McKnight and Pritzlaff, and City Administrator Urbia also attended the GRE meeting and it did not go the way they wanted it to. He suggested Council set a workshop for informational purposes. There are some questions he would like answered. This will be placed on the next Council Agenda. Councilmember Wilson: Thanked Community Development Director Carroll for his work on the GRE issue. He appreciated the work Finance Director Roland did on the budget. He reminded everyone ofthe Mayoral Charity Ball on March 5, at St. Michael's Church. This is a non-City sponsored event. 100% of the proceeds will go to the Community Action Council. He encouraged residents to attend. City Administrator Urbia: Reminded Council March 31 is the State of the Cities Legislative Conference. There is a transit meeting Friday, at noon, at the Met Council offices. Councilmember Fogarty explained they are assuming the transit authority is advocating bringing other cities into the taxing district. The Apple Valley Council has suggested issuing parking tickets to only Apple Valley residents. Councilmember Wilson will try to attend. As far as the agenda for the Council/School Board meeting for March 1, Councilmember Pritzlaffwanted to look at working with the school as far as recreation. Councilmember Wilson wanted to keep the agenda focused and shorter. He looked forward to the opportunity to meet with the school board. He hoped residents would attend and would like to see packets or at least agenda items available for residents who come. Councilmember McKnight agreed with Councilmember Wilson and he would like to set a schedule for the rest of the year. Councilmember Fogarty would like to talk about the infrastructure issues. She wanted to have a good discussion. Community Development Director Carroll: Gave a presentation on the outcome of the GRE power line meeting. The route is from Lakeville to Empire Township. The northern route was originally proposed by GRE. This is a 115,000 volt transmission line to meet service needs in the area. The substation will be behind Northern Natural gas, east ofthe industrial park. The line would go north along Akin, through undeveloped property owned by Giles Properties, through the undeveloped Rother property to Hwy 3 and 66. It would proceed south along Hwy 3 on the east side to the Dairy Queen and go east along a former railroad right-of-way. It would go between the bus garage and a storage building and continue east through Empire along 21 oth Street and connect to the substation. This was proposed by Great River Energy in March 2004. Several public hearings have been held since that time giving people the opportunity to suggest other routes. An alternate route was proposed by a land owner, who did not want the power line through his land. He proposed the power line go from Akin Road, south across school district property through some ballfields, a new path would be cut through Rambling River Park to cross the river, go behind Pellicci Hardware, across the railroad tracks and along Pine Street, on the south side of Marigold Foods and the bowling alley, and then cut between Peerless Plastics and Dakota County Lumber to Hwy 3 where it would hook up with the previous route. Various other routes have been discussed. There was a meeting of the Council Minutes (Regular) February 22, 2005 Page 7 Environmental Quality Board last Thursday to approve a route. At the meeting they approved the alternate route on a vote of 10-4. The EQB rejected the route the City had endorsed. The City made it clear which route they supported and that the City opposed the alternate route. For those residents who have property along Pine Street or in the downtown area, they have to be prepared that in the near future, people will be approaching them to acquire easements across their property and then power lines will be constructed along this route. The City has sent a series of notices to 80-85 property owners affected by this route. Community Development Director Carroll then discussed three things that happened at the end of the process that may have affected the outcome. GRE spoke in favor of their route for the first 6 or 7 months ofthe process. They assured staff that they had studied a variety of alternatives through Farmington and that this made the most sense. Staff also recommended the previous Council support this route, and they did. Over the course of the process, some of the staff members ofthe EQB developed a preference for the alternate route. At this point they established a position of neutrality and decided they would let the EQB decide what to do. A week before the decision, on February 8, GRE representatives indicated publicly that they were supporting the alternate route. They determined this alternate route was cheaper. Staff questioned this, as in September 2004 an environmental assessment was done by GRE and as part of that they weighed the relative cost ofthe routes. Their own documents indicate they estimated the downtown route to be $250,000 more expensive than the original route. An administrative law judge took testimony and concluded the same thing. A week before the decision was made, GRE re-examined their numbers and not only is this not $250,000 more expensive, but $500,000 less expensive. This is a $750,000 swing in cost. Staff asked for numbers to support that swing. Staff received these numbers late in the afternoon the day before the final decision. The EQB said they made some errors in estimating the cost. One explanation was the number of jumpers needed, another structure that had been left out that was needed on the line which accounted for 1/3 ofthe $750,000. The rest was accounted for by a decision they made at the end of the process that they could put different types of power poles along the route. They decided that they would install guyde structures from the poles, which means they can use less expensive poles. These would be placed in low or no traffic areas. Staff felt undeveloped property was a no traffic area. Will guyde wires be placed in the ballfields or in the woods? The guyde wires run 55 ft. from the base of the pole. This means their usual 35 ft. easement on each side of the pole, would be extended 20 ft further into the woods on both sides to accommodate the guyde wires. This has an environmental impact that no one had the opportunity to discuss before the final decision was made. Another thing that may have swayed the outcome was one ofthe last people to speak at the meeting on Thursday was an attorney for GRE. He indicated he was concerned about the possibility that some might try to piece together portions of the route and get it over 10 miles. The 210th Street route was the shortest route. Empire Township residents proposed alternate routes that were longer. As long as the utility company proposes a route that is 10 miles or less, they do not have to go to the Public Utilities Commission for a Certificate of Need. This would add more time to the process. The attorney from GRE said of the various combinations, four ofthe six would not work for GRE because it puts the route over 10 miles. It would take another 9 months to go through the PUC and hold a public hearing. This is important, because they would not be able to get the new Council Minutes (Regular) February 22, 2005 Page 8 power line energized by 2006. Ifthis is not done, there is the possibility of brown outs or black outs in the area. There was not an opportunity for staff to respond. GRE created the time frame within which the issue had to be addressed. There was a meeting in January 2003 by the power company talking about the system upgrade needed. They talked about the siting process saying they desire siting consensus with communities prior to permit application, which they had at the beginning ofthe process. Staff also wanted to mention the administrative law judge said the EQB need not feel bound by the 10 mile limitation imposed by the Certificate of Need program. There is a question as to whether the project could be viewed as two separate projects in which case any route would easily be under 10 miles. Even if it is viewed as one project, the only way the 10 mile limitation would impact the selection of the best route would be if reliability was seriously threatened by the additional time needed to obtain a Certificate of Need. The Administrative Law Judge does not believe that the applicants have made a sufficient showing of threatened unreliability such that the board must pick a route less than 10 miles in length. The additional delay that flows from requiring a Certificate of Need does run a risk if other facilities should go out of service as the result of a tornado, etc. That risk has not been shown to be so substantial that this project must be rushed through. Therefore, the 10 mile threshold for the Certificate of Need program is not determinative of the route selected. Reliability is a factor, but not a decisive one in this case. Staff feels the EQB rejected that opinion ofthe Administrative Law Judge. There was very little discussion among the EQB board members before they made a decision. There were statements made that Farmington wanted to push the power line out of Farmington and into a nearby township. Looking at the map, Farmington is the host community for the substation and all but a small portion of the route is in the City, and there is a possibility that small portion ofland will be annexed into the City. Empire Township has not opposed the route. Staffhas done a good job of keeping residents informed of public hearings, through mailings, through newspaper articles, etc. Councilmember Pritzlaff commended Community Development Director Carroll for all of his hard work. City Administrator Urbia asked about the relationship between Great River Energy and Xcel Energy and Dakota Electric. Community Development Director Carroll replied all the power companies will benefit from this new substation. GRE is a power supplier to Dakota Electric. Xcel Energy is a separate entity. Councilmember Fogarty stated Empire did not have anything to say about it because they know that portion will end up in the City. She thanked Community Development Director Carroll for his hard work and Councilmembers Pritzlaff and McKnight for attending the meetings. Community Development Director Carroll noted the line will go through Rambling River Park. He did not know how many trees would come out, but it is a corridor of 70 - 110ft. wide. He listened to hours of testimony from residents along 210th Street, and GRE talked about bouncing the line from one side of the road to the other to avoid trees. But no one was concerned about the park. They talked about which route made the most sense from an environmental standpoint. The body that made the final decision is the Environmental Quality Board. The EQB evidently is not sufficiently concerned about the environmental quality of the park. City Engineer Mann: Assistant City Engineer Tim Gross in addition to doing an excellent job with the City has decided to mentor students in the Future Cities Council Minutes (Regular) February 22, 2005 Page 9 competition in Apple Valley. They created a model city and made a presentation to a group of judges. Their gro..up took second in state. He commended Mr. Gross for going above and beyond the call of duty and doing very important work with the future of our young people. Acting Mayor Fogarty: She had a spreadsheet from a Councilmember in Lakeville that she will e-mail to Finance Director Roland. There seems to be a conflict between out-state cities and the metro area. The spreadsheet shows the amount of aid lost by selected cities. The Lakeville Councilmember has heard that the metro area has not taken the hit hard enough, that out-state has taken it harder. The spreadsheet shows that is not true. She wanted staff to add Farmington to the spreadsheet. She had her first meeting with the Vermillion River Watershed Joint Powers Planning Commission and was told on March 13, on Channel 11, the Ron Shara MN Bound show will do a segment on the Vermillion River through this area. 14. ADJOURN MOTION by McKnight, second by Pritzlaffto adjourn at 9:15 p.m. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. Respectfully submitted, :?~~/~ Cynthia Muller Executive Assistant