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HomeMy WebLinkAbout01.12.09 Work Session Minutes Council Workshop Minutes January 12, 2009 Mayor Larson called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. Present: Absent: Also Present: Larson, Donnelly, May, Wilson Fogarty Peter Herlofsky, City Administrator; Robin Roland, Finance Director; Kevin Schorzman, City Engineer; Randy Distad, Parks and Recreation Director; Brian Lindquist, Police Chief; Tim Pietsch, Fire Chief; Brenda Wendlandt, Human Resources Director; Lisa Shadick, Administrative Services Director; Ken Lewis, Building Official; Bill Weierke, Public Works Supervisor; Lena Larson, Municipal Services Coordinator; Tina Hansmeier, Economic Development Specialist; Cynthia Muller, Executive Assistant . MOTION by Wilson, second by May to approve the agenda. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. This was a Council orientation workshop to provide Councilmembers with information on staffing and what each department does. Administration City Administrator Herlofsky provided his employment agreement, an updated resume and the job description for the City Administrator. Council reviews the City Administrator annually in May. Personnel include the City Administrator, Economic Development Specialist and Executive Assistant. Municipal Services Todd Reiten is the Director for Municipal Services. This department covers eight divisions including streets, snow removal, sanitary sewer, storm sewer, NPDES, water, fleet, and solid waste. Personnel include one Director, two Supervisors, eight Maintenance Workers, five Solid Waste Operators, two Mechanics, and one part-time Administrative staff. The streets division maintains 80 miles of streets, alleys, and 92 cul-de-sacs. The snow division routes are divided into 12 zones, each with an assigned operator. Priority is given to collector routes. Sanitary sewer division is responsible for the operation and maintenance of 83 miles of sewer lines and six lift stations. Storm sewer division is responsible for the maintenance and cleaning of catch basins, culverts, sweeping of streets to keep debris from entering the ponds. The Water division is responsible for the operation, maintenance, and repair of all facilities necessary to get water to Farmington residents and businesses. Currently there are two towers and eight wells. One dedicated position is assigned to this division and rotates on a yearly basis. There are one or two wells used in the winter and eight wells used in the summer. The Fleet division has two mechanics that provide maintenance and repairs for 89 vehicles, 35 pieces of equipment and ten trailers. The mechanics also perform set-up for the squad cars. They are also responsible for a Council Workshop Minutes January 12,2009 Page 2 plow route. The Solid Waste division provides garbage collection for all residents and most commercial accounts. The City contracts with Lakeville Sanitary for recycling collection. Municipal Services Director Reiten introduced Bill Weierke, Street and Utilities Supervisor, who oversees all the streets, water, sanitary, storm sewer, plowing and street light operation. He also introduced Lena Larson, Municipal Services Coordinator, who coordinates the administrative material for Municipal Services. She sets up programs for water conservation, environmental, recycling education, and supervises the Solid Waste division and serves as Secretary for the Water Board. Councilmember Wilson requested a schedule for replacement vehicles. Staff will provide this along with a book of photos of all vehicles. Administrative Services Lisa Shadick is the Administrative Services Director. Administrative staff is responsible for elections, preparation of Council, Planning Commission, HPC, EDA agendas and minutes, meeting statutory and legal obligations, prepare and monitor the Administration portion of the budget, record retention, issuing licenses and permits, communications, and customer service. Council was provided with samples of communication pieces the City sends out. Council asked if the City has a list serv as a way to communicate with residents. That has been reviewed, but it has not been a top priority and would take a full time person to manage it. Council was very pleased with City Space and the calendar. Administrative Services Director Shadick explained At Your Service, which is a customer service tool residents use for requests. Administration is also responsible for the Heritage Preservation Commission. They have designated 14 properties as Heritage Landmarks. Administration is responsible for the City Hall facility. City Administrator Herlofsky noted Administrative Services Director Shadick is the contact when he is absent. Economic Develovment Tina Hansmeier is the Economic Development Specialist. Economic Development facilitates opportunities which increase commercial and industrial development opportunities which increase job options. They are the initial contact to the business community. This division has implemented a business outreach program which included visiting 70 businesses in 2008. There are over 220 businesses. They put businesses in touch with available resources to help their business. A database is maintained for available commercial and industrial property. They represent the City on various local organizations. The goal of the Economic Development division is to increase commercial and industrial development in the City. Council was provided with an ongoing development list, samples of the Economic Update which is mailed to businesses, and the Farmington Business Guide which is a new publication. City Administrator Herlofsky explained that between Tina, Lisa, Planning, and Building Inspections if a customer has an issue with Planning or Building Inspections, they will advise Tina and Lisa so they can become the proponent for that business and help them through the situation. The Economic Update is available on the website and at times copies are left at coffee shops and the library. The Bridge newsletter is mailed to 8,000 homes. Staff is looking at ways to combine the two publications. City Administrator Herlofsky explained that getting the Economic Update to the businesses was the first step. We want to make sure we are comfortable at that level before moving to the next step. Administrative Services Director Shadick noted there is an Economic Council Workshop Minutes January 12,2009 Page 3 Development update section within the Bridge newsletter. Councilmember May suggested adding a note in that section that the Economic Update is available on the website. City Administrator Herlofsky gave an update on the history of the makeup of the EDA. Councilmember May asked about the relationship between the EGC and the EDA. Staff felt things were working well and slowly making progress. City Administrator Herlofsky has met with the Chamber to develop more of a presence in Farmington for the Chamber and the EGC. Councilmember May suggested allowing local service groups to use a conference room for meetings at no charge. This portion of the fee schedule will be reviewed. The City Attorney is researching the possibility of having a license bureau here. EDA owned properties include the old liquor store, park garage, McVicker lot, and the Riste lot. Ene:ineerine: Kevin Schorzman is the City Engineer. Engineering is comprised of Engineering, Building Inspections, and Natural Resources. Engineering is responsible for planning, designing and inspecting everything Municipal Services maintains. They assist residents and Municipal Services when there is an issue with existing services for water, sanitary, storm water, and streets. They coordinate with multiple state agencies and report to them for water and sanitary sewer. Ken Lewis is the Building Official. They do plan reviews for new construction and remodels, and perform inspections for building projects, additions, remodels which total 3500 - 4000 inspections per year. They are responsible for issuing Certificates of Occupancy for new construction. Jen Dullum is the Natural Resources Specialist and is responsible for coordinating and reporting to multiple state agencies with oversight of the storm sewer system. This includes ponds, wetlands, storm sewers, etc. She is in charge of ensuring compliance with best management practices for the City's permits. She is involved in a lot of public education programs and handles permits for public projects. Natural Resources also covers boulevard tree trimming, and updates ordinances to comply with stated and federal mandates. City Administrator Herlofsky noted the City also contracts engineering services with Bonestroo. A couple years ago there were four employees in Building Inspections, now there are two. Finance Robin Roland is the Finance Director. Finance is responsible for audits, budgets, cash which includes accounts payable, accounts receivable, special assessments and utility billing. Tracy is responsible for accounts receivable and special assessments, JoAnn is responsible for accounts payable and Deb is responsible for utility billing. Rosemary is the Accountant and handles bank reconciliations, journal entries, and financial reports. Finance is also responsible for the Debt Management Policy. The City has $43,523,000 in debt. Annually the debt service is $4.1 million. The City levies for $2.2 million and the rest is provided from special assessments and other sources of revenue. In 2009 the City would be allowed to have $54 million in debt. Of the $43 million, $18 million is debt covered exclusively by the levy. The bond rating from Moody's is A2, and from S&P is AA-. The Finance Department is responsible for financial reporting, and the fund balance. The GFOA goal is to have 35%-45% of annual expenditures in the fund balance. Finance is also responsible for the investment policy which identifies what the City can invest in, the terms, amounts, etc. Council Workshop Minutes January 12,2009 Page 4 Parks and Recreation Randy Distad is the Parks and Recreation Director. There are 11 full-time staff and one part- time staff member. There are many seasonal staff hired to assist with running programs, ice arena, supervise outdoor rinks, etc. He provided a list of recreational programs the City provides along with participation numbers. They also partner with the Rotary Club whereby they provide sponsorship for paying registration fees for those who cannot afford to participate in programs. A map of the parks and open space was provided. There are 23 parks which covers 46 acres. There are 18 open space areas that amounts to another 140 acres. Overall there is 876 acres of parks and open space. As far as maintenance, the City has an agreement with Toro where they mow all parks and right-of-ways as a way to test their equipment. There is no charge to the City, but there is a $75,000 value to the City in not having to use staff and equipment. There are 42 miles of paved trails. Facilities include the Schmitz-Maki Arena built in 1975, the outdoor pool built in 1969, and the Rambling River Center with a membership of over 500. Randy Distad is the liaison to the Parks and Recreation Commission and the Rambling River Center Board. The Parks and Recreation Commission includes five members, and the Rambling River Center Advisory Board has seven members. Fire Department Tim Pietsch was recently re-appointed as Fire Chief for another three years. Council was provided with a roster and a picture of the members. A new records management system was used this year for inspections, payroll, etc. They will need to obtain individual photos of each member for this system. The Annual Meeting will be held Friday. The Fire Department covers 88 sq. miles which includes all of Farmington, and portions of Empire, Castle Rock, and Eureka Townships. There is one full-time employee, John Powers, Fire Marshal, and comprised of 52 paid on-call members. The Rescue Squad contains 20 of those members. They provide fire, basic EMS services, and assist ambulance crews. John Powers will be relocating to the City Hall to have access to administrative assistance, and Police administrative assistance for criminal reports. There are many internal records that need to be entered into the records management system. City Administrator Herlofsky noted many files from City Hall were scanned into the computer prior to moving. Records can be accessed through computers rather than having file cabinets. Human Resources Director Wendlandt noted at some point the public will have access to public data. Residents could look up their building permits at home, budgets, etc. Councilmember Wilson asked if there was an archive of Council minutes and agendas that are accessible. City Administrator Herlofsky explained it is available internally, but not to the public right now. The Fire Department is fully staffed, however one member recently resigned. Dispatching of calls is handled through the Dakota Communications Center. The rescue squad responds to the most severe calls. Police Chief Brian Lindquist explained the process as to what occurs when 911 calls are received. Farmington has mutual aid agreements with all Dakota County departments. Farmington is working with Lakeville on an Automatic Aid Agreement for confirmed structure fires. Council Workshop Minutes January 12,2009 Page 5 Human Resources Brenda Wendlandt is in charge of Human Resources and Information Technology. There are two full-time staff members. Council was provided with information on compensation structure, benefits, payroll, and data practices compliance. Council was strongly encouraged to use the City e-mail address due to data practice requests. Council also has to be careful with not creating a quorum bye-mailing all Councilmembers and responding. The safest place for Council to discuss an issue is at a Council meeting. Human Resources is also responsible for recruitment and retention, policies and procedures, employee and labor relations, safety and workers compo Todd Reiten has taken over the OSHA portion for the Maintenance Facility. Brenda Wendlandt is in charge of organizational development and employee training, legal compliance, and is the ADA compliance officer for the City. She is also responsible for information technology along with Rob Boerboom. Staff is in the process of installing the IT security cameras. Jim Constantineau spent a lot of time working on the security for the building. City Administrator Herlofsky noted Brenda has spent a lot of time working with ALF employees on the labor agreement. After February 1, with the new agreement, she will no longer have this duty. Planning Council received information on the Comprehensive Plan. This was done inhouse and as a result, the City was the first one to get their plan in. Lee Smick and Tony Wippler did a great job accomplishing this task and it got the City in early with the Met Council. They deal with code complaints, work with building inspections, requests for fences, sign permits, etc. Council received a copy of the work plan for the 2030 Comp Plan and the timeline. There is a section in the Comp Plan for EDA activities. This will be reviewed with the EDA. They coordinate with Economic Development with new businesses as far as zoning. Lee and Tony report to Lisa Shadick. Police Brian Lindquist as been the Police Chief since 2006. Prior to that he was on the road for eight years. There are 24 full-time officers. Brian along with Jim Constantineau are the Administrative Officers. There are 3.5 clerical staff, and a part-time Community Service Officer. The are four sergeants and 12 uniformed officers. There is a two-car minimum at any time in the schedule. Investigations consists of a Sergeant in Charge, two Investigators, two School Resource Officers with a third added this August, and a Drug Task Force Officer. There are four officers dedicated to the MAAG team. There is one officer on the SOC team which deals with high risk rescues. The Police Department participates in a county-wide mutual aid agreement for traffic safety. Council will receive a great many phone calls and e-mails pertaining to the police department. If they receive something that is a concern, the e-mail should be sent directly to Brian and copied to Peter. He will respond directly to the resident. Staff works together in making sure the appropriate departments are aware of situations and the goal is to inform Council before they receive a call. Any complaints regarding police officers are highly confidential. After Council has shared the complaint, there may be some information that cannot be shared with Council. Council Workshop Minutes January 12,2009 Page 6 City Administrator Herlofsky noted once an issue has been resolved, Council will be informed as to the outcome. He also follows up with the resident to make sure they are satisfied. He stated he is proud to be a Farmington employee. The people here tonight are good people and the people working for them are also good people. They are hard workers. In the summer, they are busy. With snow plowing, they get the job done. Everyone here is good and we start off on that basis. We have to have someone prove they are not. We check everything out in a serious way. We want to make sure the customer is satisfied with the results of what they are doing. We want to make Council's job as easy and fun as possible. When he is not here, Lisa Shadick is left in charge. If something does not work, Council should advise Peter. If Council would like something similar like this done next year, please let him know. MOTION by Wilson, second by May to adjourn. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. Respectfully submitted, ~-1~~?f4 /Y7~ ~thia Muller Executive Assistant