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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10.01.18 Council Minutes CITY OF FARMINGTON CITY COUNCIL MINUTES REGULAR MEETING OCTOBER 1, 2018 1. Call to Order Mayor Larson called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. 2. Pledge of Allegiance Mayor Larson led those in attendance in the Pledge of Allegiance. 3. Roll Call Present-Larson, Bernhjelm and Craig Absent-Bartholomay, Donnelly Staff Present-Administrator McKnight, Finance Director Malecha, Community Development Director Kienberger, Public Works Director Gehler, Human Resources Director Wendlandt, Parks and Recreation Director Distad, Fire Chief Elvestad, Acting Police Chief Rutherford and Attorney Jamnik. 4. Agenda Motion by Bernhjelm, second by Craig,to approve the agenda as presented. APIF, motion carried. 5. Announcements/Commendations None 6. Citizen Comments None 7. Consent Agenda Motion by Bernhjelm, second by Craig, to approve the consent agenda: a) Approve Minutes of the September 17, 2018 City Council Meeting-Administration b) Authorize the Purchase of an Asphalt Hot Box/Emulsion Tank Trailer-Public Works c) Adopt Resolution R39-2018 Appointing 2018 General Election Judges-Community Development October 1, 2018 Minutes - 1- d) Approve City Administrative Policies and Procedures: Tuition Reimbursement-Review, Changes and/or Additions-Human Resources e) Approve Bills-Finance APIF, motion carried. 8. Public Hearings None 9. Award of Contract None 10. Petitions, Requests and Communications None 11. Unfinished Business None 12. New Business a) Franchise Agreement with Minnesota Energy Resources Administrator McKnight presented a draft franchise agreement with Minnesota Energy Resources for consideration. The current agreement will expire on November 3, 2018. This agreement was approved by the city council on November 3, 2003. The current agreement allowed Minnesota Energy Resources to construct and maintain a natural gas distribution plant and system and granting the right to use the streets, alleys and other public places with the present and future corporate limits of the city. The proposed ordinance allows the same activities to take place for the next ten years. The length of the contract, going from a 15-year agreement to a rolling ten-year agreement, is the only change from the current to the proposed agreement outside of the name change of the gas company. Both the current and proposed agreement include language allowing the city to implement a franchise fee at any time during the duration of the agreement with certain requirements. There has been no discussion of a franchise fee in the past seven years. The city attorney has reviewed the draft franchise agreement and has no concerns. Minnesota Energy Resources has been a good organization to work with over the years. October 1, 2018 Minutes -2- Kyle Chester and Al Keuten from Minnesota Energy are in attendance at the meeting to answer any questions the city council may have on the proposed agreement. This draft agreement is for information only tonight. If there are no concerns, the agreement will be brought back at the October 15, 2018 city council meeting for consideration. Councilmembers had no concerns on the proposed franchise agreement. b) Amendment to the Settlement Agreement Between the City of Farmington and Independent School District 192 Administrator McKnight presented a draft amendment to the settlement agreement between the City of Farmington and Independent School District 192 in regards to the construction of a high school in 2006. In May 2006 the city and the school district entered into a settlement agreement regarding the construction of a new high school located along Flagstaff Avenue and related public infrastructure improvements to serve the new school and other properties in the area, including the eventual east/west extension of 208th Street between Flagstaff Avenue and the Lakeville border. The settlement agreement includes a number of still relevant points including the construction of 208th Street at school district expense, collection of assessment by the city in a specified benefit area,the city passing those collected assessments on to the school district and more. The school district paid $11,673,549.51 of the costs of Flagstaff Avenue, sewer improvements and sanitary sewer in 2006. Minus the school district apportioned benefit of these costs,the outstanding costs subject to potential reimbursement to the district are $10,789,940,.06. The city has two mechanisms to utilize to collect these dollars; availability charges or special assessments. State statute clearly grants cities the authority to collect availability charges for water and sewer utilities to recover the cost of the construction of trunk and other capital improvements. This authority is not granted for road construction. Recent court rulings have set precedence reinforcing the lack of specific authority cities have to collect fees for streets. The city does have the authority to use special assessments. The use of assessments requires the city to prove the benefit of the improvement to the property being assessed. It is highly unlikely the city will be able to pass the special benefit test for the improvement in question. This could result in appeals of the assessments and legal costs to defend those appeals. October 1, 2018 Minutes -3 - As an aside, the city changed its assessment policy in May 2014. This change removed special assessments for projects in our capital improvement plan. While the option to assess projects is still available, our practice of paying for projects through the property tax levy has worked well and is still recommended by staff. Given the mechanisms the city can legally use, the adjusted potential reimbursement to ISD 192 is $3,416,650.45 The current agreement specifies 208th Street to be a rural cross section street. Since the time of the agreement, regional transportation studies have been completed with Dakota County and other local jurisdictions which identify this future street as part of an east/west corridor route from Interstate 35 through Lakeville and Farmington continuing to Highway 52 in Hampton. Given the designation, the cross section defined in the settlement agreement would not be adequate to handle the expected traffic volumes. In addition,turn lanes, medians, etc. should be considered to safely manage traffic. The proposed amendment to the settlement agreement is simple in nature and proposes the following: ✓ The school district work related to the settlement agreement is complete. ✓ The city will take on the responsibility for building and funding the 208th Street extension when it is prompted by development along 208th Street. ✓ The city will collect SAC and WAC fees over time from properties in the benefit area. These dollars will be invested in our current and future utility infrastructure system. It should be noted that these trunk fees not only pay for the utility lines themselves, but also other capital projects to support development including new wells, a water tower and more. The reason the city would consider agreement to this amendment include: ✓ The city has the ability to pass on portions of the future street construction costs to the landowner/developer that the school district does not. If you look at the map of the future 208th Street, three quarters is on privately owned land. That means these costs can be passed onto a future development and responsibility taken off of taxpayers. ✓ The remaining one quarter of the costs will need to be paid for by someone. The city has discussed with the City of Lakeville the possibility of making the future 208th Street an MSA designated street. This means we would be able to use future MSA funding to pay for the final portion of the future street if this designation occurs. ✓ The city alleviates a difficult development caused reimbursement calculation and process in the future in the benefit area. If this amendment to the settlement agreement succeeds, the community can put this issue to rest,the school district financial obligation to the construction of 208th Street is complete and the city can plan for future construction and funding of the street. October 1, 2018 Minutes -4- This issue was discussed at the school board meeting last week and the city council meeting tonight. City staff will attend the school board work session next week to discuss the issue as well. If both parties are in agreement, the city council would consider this issue again on October 15, 2018 and the school board on October 22, 2018. Councilmember Bernhjelm stated it shows the partnership we have with the school district and this is in the best interest of the community. Councilmember Craig agreed with Councilmember Bernhjelm and thinks this is the best solution for this issue. c) Dakota County Principle Arterial Study Public Works Director Gehler shared that over the last year Dakota County has been analyzing its transportation principle arterial needs. Principal arterials are the main travel routs that carry the most traffic in an area, often at high speeds and over long distances. These roads include interstate or major highways but they can also be two-lane highways, especially in rural and developing areas. The principle arterial network in Dakota County is well established in the north part of the county. The south part of the county, south of County Road 42 and east of Interstate 35, is incomplete. Dakota County invited participation from a full range of relevant partners in the study. The study is now complete and the county intends to consider adoption of the study at the October 6, 2018 Physical Development Committee meeting. The primary objectives of the study were to evaluate how the included highway segments are used and the features they exhibited compared with principle arterial highway characteristics. Other objectives included documenting contact for highways and providing guidance to help Dakota County and its partners plan for both regional and local highway system priorities. In Farmington the segments included existing and future segments of County Road 70 and State Highway 50 along with Trunk Highway 3. The study was shared with the city council for their review. The study identifies additional planning needs along future connection corridors in Farmington (County Road 70 extension) and existing corridors with constrained right of ways (County Road 74). The county seeks partnership in reflecting the results of this study in our local plans and supporting access management and right of way goals along the future principle arterial routes. Councilmember Craig stated it was good to see eventual improvement being planned. Councilmember Bernhjelm asked when was the earliest these streets would be designated. Gehler stated that this work lays the groundwork as development occurs. October 1, 2018 Minutes -5- Motion by Craig, second by Bernhjelm,to adopt Resolution 40-2018 supporting the recommendations of the principle arterial study and adoption by Dakota County. APIF, motion carried. d) Agreement with HKGI and Committee Structure to Create a Bike Pedestrian Plan Parks and Recreation Director Distad reminded the city council that the city has been awarded a $32,000 Statewide Health Improvement Partnership grant through Dakota County to help create a bike pedestrian plan in the community. Staff recently completed a request for proposal process for the plan. Information was mailed to seven planning consultants and posted on the city website. Three proposals were submitted for review. At the September 2018 Parks and Recreation Advisory Commission meeting a unanimous recommendation was made to hire Housington Koegler Group, Inc. for this project. The commission's recommendation is based on: ✓ Received the highest average score of the three proposals submitted ✓ Amount of previous work experience with bike and pedestrian planning projects ✓ Past experience working with the city on developing the 2040 Comprehensive Plan and for the work it has done on creating approved individual park master plans, both of which involved a community engagement process Additionally, because the plan requires a public engagement process,the commission discussed and recommended that the city council approve the following organizations be represented on a Bike Pedestrian Plan Committee: ✓ Park and Recreation Commission ✓ Planning Commission ✓ ISD 192 ✓ Farmington Police or Fire Department ✓ Rambling River Center Advisory Board ✓ Two residents not affiliated with a community organization ✓ Biking advocacy organization ✓ Farmington Business Association ✓ Farmington Youth Sports HKGI has proposed that it will cost $32,000 to develop the plan. The city has received $32,000 from Dakota County to develop the plan. Councilmember Craig likes that it is budget neutral and asked how many times the committee would meet. Distad shared that three committee meetings are planned along with two public open houses. October 1, 2018 Minutes -6- Councilmember Bernhjelm stated she likes the structure and reminded everyone that a plan requires eventual funding and that is to be determined. Distad stated we will use the plan as a guide for the future. Mayor Larson asked if this was a part of the larger greenway plans that have been discussed the past decade. Distad stated the greenway plans are a county project but would connect to city trails. Motion by Bernhjelm, second by Craig,to approve the agreement with HKGI to develop a city bike pedestrian plan and approve the Bike Pedestrian Plan Committee structure. APIF, motion carried. e) Highway 3 Corridor Plan Professional Services Agreement Community Development Director Kienberger shared that as an offset to the 2040 Comprehensive Plan development, staff recommended development of a plan for one of Farmington's oldest commercial corridors along Highway 3. This is also an offset of the Downtown Redevelopment Plan which calls for strengthening the connections to downtown at key gateway areas. A review committee consisting of two EDA members, one planning commission member and staff from planning and community development reviewed the five submitted proposals from qualified firms and recommended the proposal from WSB and Associates at a fixed fee of $39,995 for this work. The WSB proposal ranked the highest within the committee with a combined score of 89 out of 100 possible points. The Dakota County CDA approved Farmington's redevelopment incentive grant application for $15,000 which will be matched by Farmington's 2018 Community Development Block Grant funds of$15,000. The additional dollars needed for the plan will come from the EDA budget. The EDA reviewed the recommendation at their meeting on September 27, 2018 and voted to approve forwarding the recommendation to the city council for contract authorization. Councilmember Bernhjelm asked how long this plan will take to complete. Kienberger stated it would take about six months. Motion by Craig, second by Bernhjelm, to approve the professional services agreement with WSB & Associations in the amount of$39,995 for development of a Highway 3 Corridor Plan. APIF, motion carried. October 1, 2018 Minutes -7- 13. City Council Roundtable Bernhjelm-Congratulated Kindred Chiropractic on their recent opening in Farmington and reminded residents of the upcoming Fire Department blood drive and open house. Craig-Noted the theme of the meeting tonight focused on the city preparing for growth and the future. Kienberger-Shared that it is Minnesota Manufacturers Week and shared information on manufacturing jobs in Minnesota. Distad-Reminded residents that the annual Rambling River Center waffle breakfast is scheduled for Saturday, October 27, 2018. Larson-Reminded residents that hydrant flushing is occurring for the next two weeks, asked residents to adopt a storm drain, shared that longtime resident Dick Graylish recently passed away and encouraged residents to shop local. Adjourn Motion by Craig, second by Bernhjelm, to adjourn the meeting at 7:34 p.m. APIF, motion carried. Respectfully Submitted 1) P. WI*Ks1.ifl David McKnight, City Administrator October 1, 2018 Minutes -8-