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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10.06.08 Council Minutes 7CL COUNCIL MINUTES PRE-MEETING October 6, 2008 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; Randy Distad, Parks and Recreation Director; Kevin Schorzman, City Engineer; Todd Reiten, Municipal Services Director; Lisa Shadick, Administrative Services Director; Brenda Wendlandt, Human Resources Director; Lee Smick, City Planner; Tony Wippler, Assistant City Planner; Jennifer Collova, Natural Resources Specialist; Cynthia Muller, Executive Assistant 2. APPROVE A GENDA MOTION by Pritzlaff, second by Wilson to approve the Agenda. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. 3. CITIZEN COMMENTS 4. COUNCIL REVIEW OF AGENDA Councilmember Fogarty asked about a surcharge for residents registering on-line for Parks and Recreation programs. Parks and Recreation Director Distad stated he sent a spreadsheet showing the percentages based on the registration fee. In the current system on a $40 registration fee, the transaction fee is $2, under the new system it would be $.60. Councilmember Wilson appreciated Parks and Recreation Director Distad's follow-up to his request and his questions regarding the new on-line registration program were resolved. He had been concerned with the impact to residents, but it will work out well. Councilmember Wilson asked about the Storm Water Coalition. Natural Resources Specialist Collova noted the coalition is a group of many cities that meet to discuss how to address the Pollution Control Agency as a unified body. Regarding the wetland health evaluation program, this is one of the City's best management practices to monitor the health of four wetlands. Dakota County trains the volunteers and they do sampling of the wetlands. The City receives an annual report. Councilmember Wilson noted the one wetland area that has been impacted recently with development is along 203rd Street. He asked how developers and the wetland health agency work together. Staff replied because the development needs to keep their storm water onsite, it does change the type Council Minutes (Pre-Meeting) October 6, 2008 Page 2 of wetland. It may start as a deep pool of water, and after development the wetland type may change to a meadow. Councilmember Pritzlaff asked who helps pay for the wetland health evaluation program. Staff utilizes the services of Dakota County and they do all the work. They are doing our BMP for us. Councilmember Pritzlaff asked if there was a cost per year for the wetland health joint powers agreement. There is no cost. 5. STAFF COMMENTS City Administrator Herlofsky noted Council was given a letter from the DNR regarding the trout survey in the Vermillion River. Councilmember Fogarty would like to attend. Administrative Services Director Shadick gave Council an amended list of election judges for approval. One judge has been added. Councilmember Pritzlaff expressed some concern and disappointment with an issue he brought to City Administrator Herlofsky regarding an issue Apple Valley was having with Walmart. He had requested a staff member watch the Apple Valley Council meeting to obtain names ofWalmart representatives and contact them with some information on Farmington. City Administrator Herlofsky did make contact with the attorney who represents Walmart. Councilmember Pritzlaff had wanted more contact with the person in charge of marketing for this area. He felt this was economic development and trying to market the City. He was not pleased with only speaking with an attorney. Councilmember Pritzlaff contacted the representative for the area and he will bring their information when it is received. He would like to see requests followed through more. He wanted to know from Council if this is the appropriate method we should use to market the City. Mayor Soderberg stated we all want the City marketed and want economic development. We need to realize the City Administrator and staff work for a Council of five, not just one member. If the City Administrator can get to it and follow through, that is fine. If he chooses another path and unless he receives specific direction from Council, the City Administrator is not off base. He asked City Attorney Jamnik if this was getting close to a performance evaluation. City Attorney Jamnik stated it depends on whether the focus is on whether the City Administrator was supposed to respond to a request from a single Councilmember for an economic development contact. If that is the case, it would be inappropriate to discuss in this setting. If Council wanted to discuss regarding whether the City should be more aggressive and how to outreach to potential businesses, it would be more appropriate at a work session, rather than in a pre-meeting. Councilmember Pritzlaff hoped Council agreed that any individual request from a Councilmember is appropriate. Councilmember Fogarty noted we have a workshop on economic development on October 21. Council is not in agreement on how to market the City or even whether we should be cold calling businesses. She would like Council to be unanimous on how to approach economic development. She preferred Council not direct the City Administrator individually on how to approach marketing, but as a team. Council Minutes (Pre-Meeting) October 6, 2008 Page 3 Councilmember McKnight was contact by members of the VFW regarding the flags in front of City Hall with the American flag and the State flag flying at the same level. Councilmember Wilson stated regarding the YMCA, he asked what types of programming we are looking at for the coming year. City Administrator Herlofsky stated the Y was here this week and had some preliminary discussions. They toured the pool which could be a concession for them to operate and also the Fairhill property. The Y will get back to staff. At the Fairhill site, the Y was looking at the area for a day camp. Councilmember Wilson noted the budget workshop is coming up and if we are talking about a concession operation for the pool, it will impact the budget. He wanted to know what was proposed and how it could impact the budget. City Administrator Herlofsky stated the Y has a desire to have a presence in the City. Any proposal may take 3-4 months, but we are offering the opportunity. Councilmember Wilson would like information on the impacts that could happen if this comes together such as revenue from swimming lessons, open swim, expenditures for full time temporary to operate the facility, or a part time liaison, etc. This should be based on Farmington's numbers. Mayor Soderberg mentioned the workshop schedule. He would not be available until the week of October 27. Councilmember Pritzlaff noted there are several items on the workshop list. He suggested splitting them up into two workshops. This will be discussed further during roundtable at the regular meeting. 6. ADJOURN MOTION by Pritzlaff, second by McKnight to adjourn at 6:57 p.m. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. Respectfully submitted, 77L.L-)0~ Cynthia Muller Executive Assistant COUNCIL MINUTES REGULAR October 6, 2008 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; Kevin Schorzman, City Engineer; Todd Reiten, Municipal Services Director; Lisa Shadick, Administrative Services Director; Brenda Wendlandt, Human Resources Director; Lee Smick, City Planner; Tony Wippler, Assistant City Planner; Jennifer Collova, Natural Resources Specialist; Cynthia Muller, Executive Assistant Jason Bartholomay, Todd Larson, David Story, Abel Miranda, Kyle & Shelly Johnson, Julie May, Adam Kneeland, Jeanne Gerold, Alex Gerold, Edgar Samuelson 4. APPROVEAGENDA Councilmember Pritzlaff pulled items 7j) Appoint Election Judges and 7m) City Organization Phone Agreements for discussion. Administrative Services Director Shadick noted Council has received an updated list of election judges for approval. One judge has been added. MOTION by McKnight, second by Wilson to approve the Agenda. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. 5. ANNOUNCEMENTS a) Proclaim October Community Planning Month - Planning MOTION by Pritzlaff, second by Wilson to proclaim October as Community Planning Month. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. City Planner Smick and Assistant City Planner Wippler gave a presentation on how planning affects the community. Councilmembers Wilson and Pritzlaff praised them for all their hard work on the Comprehensive Plan. 6. CITIZEN COMMENTS Council Minutes (Regular) October 6, 2008 Page 2 7. CONSENT AGENDA MOTION by Fogarty, second by McKnight to approve the Consent Agenda as follows: a) Approved Council Minutes (9/15/08 Pre-Meeting and Regular) b) Received Information August 2008 Financial Report - Finance c) Approved Agreement New Online Registration Program - Parks and Recreation d) Approved 2008 Minnesota Cities Storm Water Coalition Funding - Natural Resources Approved 2008 Wetland Health Evaluation Program Funding - Natural Resources Adopted RESOLUTION R64-08 Approving Wetland Health Evaluation Program Joint Powers Agreement - Natural Resources Approved Purchase Magnetic Manhole Lifter - Municipal Services Approved Communication Site Lease Agreement - Engineering Acknowledged Resignation Finance - Human Resources Approved Temporary On-Sale Liquor License - Administration Received Information Quarterly Investment Report - Finance Adopted RESOLUTION R66-08 Approving Gambling Event Permit- Administration 0) Approved Bills APIF, MOTION CARRIED. e) f) g) h) i) k) 1) n) j) Appoint Election Judges - Administration Councilmember Pritzlaff thanked those who volunteered to be election judges. MOTION by Pritzlaff, second by Wilson to adopt RESOLUTION R65-08 appointing election judges for the State General Election on November 4,2008. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. m) City Organization Phone Agreements - Human Resources Councilmember Pritzlaff asked why staff did not know the company could not provide numbers in the 651 area code before this. At a prior Council meeting Council had approved a contract with a new phone company. Human Resources Director Wendlandt replied staff was hoping the phone numbers would not have to change so staff was not concerned with whether the company could provide 651 phone numbers or not. Until recently, staff was hoping we could keep the current phone numbers. Councilmember Pritzlaff asked if this had to do with the voiceover IP where we were going to lease it for five years and then own it. Now there is a two-year contract with CP Telecom. Human Resources Director Wendlandt explained that is two different items. The lease is for the actual equipment and is for five years and a $1 buyout. The agreement to be approved is for the actual dial tone and that has always been part of the City budget. Staff would like a new carrier for the dial tone because the City can save money by moving away from the current carrier who had an opportunity to provide a new quote. The savings is $2,000/month. Councilmember Pritzlaffasked if we have technically changed from Frontier to PNG. Staff replied no, we are still with Frontier because we have not been able to transfer the current phone numbers from Frontier to the new service. Because PNG cannot provide new 651 Council Minutes (Regular) October 6, 2008 Page 3 numbers, we will transfer from Frontier to CP Telecom who can provide phone numbers in the 651 area code. Currently the City is operating on Frontier and PNG. PNG is providing the loop for us. With the move to the new City Hall staff anticipated we would be able to keep our phone numbers and everything would be done when we moved. That has not happened, so we need to move to a new carrier. Until that happens, we are paying Frontier because they are still providing service and we are paying PNG because they are providing service until CP Telecom can make the connection and set up new phone numbers. Councilmember Pritzlaffstated ifPNG would have been able to provide numbers in the 651 area code, what would that have cost the City. Staff replied they would have been $1,000 less than CP Telecom. Councilmember Pritzlaff noted CP Telecom represents a cost savings of $2,000/month which is $24,000/year; was that $24,000 less than PNG? Staff clarified it was $24,000 less than Frontier. PNG would have been less than that if they could have provided numbers in the 651 area code. Councilmember Pritzlaff noted we are still with Charter for the analog lines. He asked ifCP Telecom provides analog lines and what do the 15 lines consist of. Staff replied they are for the alarm systems and elevator. Charter provided the best price to the City to provide those lines. The City is keeping Charter for the analog lines. Councilmember Pritzlaff asked if all these companies are different than ShoreTel with the voiceover IP. Staff stated yes, ShoreTel is the actual voiceover IP equipment, such as the services, phones, and software that runs the phones. Frontier, PNG, or CP Telecom provide the actual dial tone. Councilmember Pritzlaff noted the agreement with CP Telecom is for two years. He asked what happens with the price after two years. Human Resources Director Wendlandt stated after two years we would negotiate a new price. Councilmember Pritzlaff asked how the contract was with PNG. Staff replied because they cannot deliver the dial tone, the contract is null and void. The contract would have been for one year. Councilmember Pritzlaffasked if the City is under contract now with CP Telecom or if this is for approval of the contract. Human Resources Director Wendlandt stated this is the approval. The City Administrator did sign the contract so staff could place the order and move forward. Councilmember Wilson asked if the City paid PNG any money. Staff replied we will for the month we are using their service which is $1,000 for the two lines we are using. Councilmember Wilson stated if they cannot provide 651 area code service, shouldn't their contract be null and void back to the beginning. Staff explained they could provide the dial tone for the existing numbers, they cannot provide new numbers in the 651 area code. MOTION by Pritzlaff, second by McKnight to approve the contract with CP Telecom. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. Councilmember Wilson noted this item did not need an action because as Councilmember Pritzlaff pointed out the contract was already executed on September 25, 2008. Council Minutes (Regular) October 6, 2008 Page 4 8. PUBLIC HEARINGS a) Approve On-Sale Liquor License - Administration The owners of Chaparrita' s Restaurant have applied for an On-Sale Liquor License and an On-Sale Sunday Liquor License. MOTION by McKnight, second by Fogarty to close the public hearing. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. MOTION by Fogarty, second by Wilson to approve an On-Sale Liquor License and an On-Sale Sunday Liquor License for Chaparrita's Restaurant, LLC. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. b) Adopt Resolution - Seal Coat Project Assessments - Engineering The seal coat project has been completed. The total cost of the project was $104,000. Half is assessed to property owners. The residential equivalent unit amount is $83.61. The original estimate was $115.58. The difference between the actual and estimated cost is because this is the first year a new oil was used. The quality of the oil has been known to work very well. Councilmember Pritzlaff asked if any streets were added that were not approved in the original bid. City Engineer Schorzman stated no streets were added to the project. There were two test strips on 6th and 7th Streets which were paid for by the City. MOTION by Pritzlaff, second by Wilson to close the public hearing. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. MOTION by Fogarty, second by McKnight to adopt RESOLUTION R67-08 adopting the assessment roll for the 2008 Seal Coat project. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. 9. AWARD OF CONTRACT 10. PETITIONS, REQUESTS AND COMMUNICATIONS 11. UNFINISHED BUSINESS a) City Hall Budget Update - Administration Staff provided a list of bills paid through September. There were no payments made for construction during the month of August. The main issues remaining are the metal fabrication in the front and the back of the building and above the reception desk. Councilmember Wilson recalled they had discussed working with the local Arts Council to provide some decoration inside the building. That has not been started yet, as staff is working on finishing the building. Councilmember Pritzlaff asked if we are paying for any items not completed. City Administrator Herlofsky stated we are getting close to the end and will not pay until the project is completed. We are working on punchlist items now. Councilmember Pritzlaff noted it is getting dark outside this time of year and he viewed no lights at the entrances as a public safety issue. There will be a Candidate Forum at City Hall on Wednesday. He requested we have lights Council Minutes (Regular) October 6, 2008 Page 5 somehow at both exits for public safety. City Administrator Herlofsky stated his request was forwarded to the contractor the other day and we will have something here for Wednesday. b) City Organization Phone Numbers Change -Human Resources Human Resources Director Wendlandt advised Council and residents the City Hall phone numbers will be changing. She does not have confirmation as to what those phone numbers are yet. Confirmation should be received this week or early next week. Numbers should change by the end of October. New numbers will be communicated through the newsletter, utility bills, website, and cable TV. 12. NEW BUSINESS a) TH3/190th Street Roundabout Opening - Engineering City Engineer Schorzman informed Council the roundabout on TH3 was opened last Tuesday Ilt 5:00 a.m. He watched traffic for a period of time and was pleased with how drivers were negotiating the roundabout. Councilmember Wilson noted this is highlighted on the website. He asked if there was any information for the public as to how this came about and the different partnerships for this project. He felt the general public was not aware how the Council and partners came together for this roundabout. He suggested this be put on the website. Councilmember Fogarty suggested an article be placed in the newsletter. 13. COUNCIL ROUNDTABLE a) Council Workshop Schedule -Administration Council had a list of six items for a workshop. It was suggested to split them up between two workshops. City Administrator Herlofsky noted he provided Council with information on the voiceover IP and asked if Council still wanted to discuss it. Councilmember Pritzlaff stated he still did not understand the $168,000 that was in the City Hall bond and it was also in the 2008 budget. They had also discussed a maintenance cost. The money is in two places and he wants clarification. Ifit is $168,000 in the 2008 budget and it was also in the bond for the City Hall, and we are moving to a different thing, he assumed we could take the $168,000 out of the 2009 budget. There was discussion about another $50,000 that comes out of that budget. Councilmember Pritzlaffwanted this item discussed at a workshop. Councilmember Wilson suggested as this is part of the budget, we should discuss it during the budget workshop. It was decided to hold a workshop on October 13, 2008, at 6:00 p.m. to discuss foreclosed properties and the old City Hall. A workshop will also be held October 29,2008, at 5:30 p.m. to discuss the 2009 Budget, CIP, and voiceover IP. A workshop to discuss economic development will be set after the election. Council Minutes (Regular) October 6, 2008 Page 6 Councilmember McKnight: He and Councilmember Pritzlaff toured the almost completed American Legion. It is scheduled to open tomorrow. He encouraged residents to support the Legion and their programs. The building looks great. He thanked the Police and Fire Departments for bringing their vehicles for Council to view tonight. Councilmember Wilson: Thanked Parks and Recreation Director Distad for providing Council with a tour of the parks last week. He acknowledged there were three boy scouts in the audience and thanked them for commg. He thanked City Engineer Schorzman for coordinating the roundabout ribbon cutting. Councilmember Pritzlaff: He stated when the workshops were discussed, he felt requests are getting put further down the road than he would like to see. He wanted to see a more defined process of writing down the requests Council brings to staff. He recalled Councilmember McKnight requested additional information from the workshop regarding the fees for Fairhill. Councilmember McKnight stated staff did give him some information, but he has not finished reviewing it. Councilmember Pritzlaff stated at a previous meeting the health and wellness of City employees was discussed. When he arrived tonight, the doors were locked and he used a waste container to prop the door open. The lid came off and the container was full of cigarette butts and they were also along the curb at the entrance to the building. He would like to see the grounds of City Hall smoke free. Councilmember Pritzlaff has received a lot of positive comments on his running the meetings. Residents have asked why he is running so many. He stated since April Mayor Soderberg has missed 11 meetings and attended 9 meetings. Each Councilmember has their own priorities to the Council. Councilmember Pritzlaff stated he has also talked to Mayor Soderberg about the short notice or no notice that he will have to run the meeting. With the amount of meetings missed and the amount of time for those meetings, he felt Mayor Soderberg has taken a significant amount of time away from the community and the Council. If 55% ofthe meetings were missed, he asked if Mayor Soderberg would consider giving 55% of his stipend back to the budget and the residents. Mayor Soderberg stated he would not respond. City Administrator Herlofsky: He felt the issue with cigarette butts would diminish once construction is done. Staff is also concerned with the appearance and will follow up. Mayor Soderberg: He noted there was some information in the weekly update regarding gateway lighting. The Planning theme this year is green communities. He would like to look at energy efficient lighting and was not comfortable with using Council Minutes (Regular) October 6, 2008 Page 7 standard lighting. Councilmember Wilson felt it sends the wrong message when we have staff layoffs being proposed in the budget that we are looking at lighting community signs. While that might be attractive, he would be less than enthusiastic about spending a few thousand dollars on that now. Mayor Soderberg was contacted by Stephen Geiss, of North Trail Elementary who was awarded a scholarship to go to Japan. He was very excited to receive the pens and pins from the City for him to take to Japan to share with the schools. Mayor Soderberg was invited to the VFW annual membership meeting. They had some wonderful speakers. He cannot say enough about our military and they deserve the recognition they get. On November 7 the Middle School will host a veteran's program and he will speak at that program. They are honoring POW's and Purple Heart recipients. These people are hard to find, so if anyone knows of anyone they should contact the VFW. The Beyond the Yellow Ribbon program has been started in Farmington and is the first yellow ribbon community in the state. Annette Kuyper is leading the program and Steve Kuyper is the City contact. The program gives support to families who have a member deployed and also support for returning soldiers through the Warrior to Citizen program. Friday and Saturday there will be a Support Our Troops Haunted House at the 4-H building at the fairgrounds. This started as a private party on a farm in Castle Rock. This is a fundraiser for care packages for the troops. The event has grown and can no longer be held on the farm. Mayor Soderberg suggested the family partner with CEEF in order to have event insurance and to have 501 c3 status. This Friday and Saturday will be the first effort hosted by CEEF and the Beyl family. There will also be a wall oflocal heroes for soldiers deployed. 14. ADJOURN MOTION by Fogarty, second by McKnight to adjourn at 8:08 p.m. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. Respectfully submitted, /) ,..,<?/,/ _ I~ // // (r-~C/c:c.ct..- /' "'"7 ~eR-u t:ynthia Muller Executive Assistant