Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout01.04.10 Council Minutes 7a- COUNCIL MINUTES REGULAR January 4, 2010 1. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order by Mayor Larson at 7:00 p,m. 2. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Mayor Larson led the audience and Council in the Pledge of Allegiance. 3. ROLL CALL Members Present: Members Absent: Also Present: Audience: Larson, Donnelly, Fogarty, May, Wilson None Joel Jamnik, City Attorney; Lisa Shadick, Administrative Services Director; Brian Lindquist, Police Chief; Randy Distad, Parks and Recreation Director; Kevin Schorzman, City Engineer; Cynthia Muller, Executive Assistant David Pritzlaff, Colin Garvey, Bradley Dau 4. APPROVE A GENDA Administrative Services Director Shadick added 7r) Approve Gaming and 3.2 Beer License and pulled item 7q) Administrative Services Agreement for HRA and FSA. Mayor Larson added IIa) Discuss Ice Arena Feasibility Study. MOTION by Fogarty, second by Wilson to approve the Agenda. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. 5. ANNOUNCEMENTS 6. CITIZEN COMMENTS a) Response to David Pritzlaff Mr. David Pritzlaff, 20255 Akin Road, compiled an attendance record for the City Council. There has been full attendance at 58% of the Regular Council meetings, 14 meetings out of 24. There has been full attendance at 72% of Council Workshops, 8 meetings out of 11, There has been full attendance at 100% of Special Council meetings, 2 meetings out of 2, There has been full attendance at 75% of the EDA meetings, 6 meetings out of8. Regarding the response he received from staff on the street light utility, he had asked about the Finance Director stating this is a policy for Council to set. The answer he received was the street light utility was set by the fee schedule. He took this as there was no direction from Council as to setting a policy on per household versus using a multiplier. He wanted to know who set the policy. Council Minutes (Regular) January 4,2010 Page 2 He and Mayor Larson discussed the responses Mayor Larson sent him. One response was that public comment would be taken at the first or only workshop on a subject. Mr. Pritzlaffasked that some leniency be given if there is more than one meeting and there is new information. b) Response to Colin Garvey Mr. Colin Garvey, 22098 Canton Court, at the December 7, 2009, Council meeting he asked about the mowing policy. The response he received was that the City sent a letter to the CDA and the property was mowed. Mr. Garvey had taken pictures that showed the property was not mowed. He asked who inspected it, because it was not mowed. There were also picture of other parcels that were not mowed. The City chose not to respond to those. Why? Mr. Garvey was trying to determine if there is a mowing policy that is fair for everyone or we have a policy that is a harassment tool. Mayor Larson noted some of pictures were prairie grasses that get mowed twice a year. Mr. Garvey stated the lots by his development have never been mowed. The City has let their weeds come into his development. 7. CONSENT AGENDA Councilmember Wilson pulled item 7d) Ice Arena Task Force Members for comment by Parks and Recreation Director Distad, and pulled 7k) Boards and Commissions Attendance for comments. MOTION by Wilson, second by Fogarty to approve the Consent Agenda as follows: a) Approved Council Minutes (12/21/09 Regular) b) Approved Water Board Compensation - Engineering c) Approved Agreement Dakota County STS Agreement - Parks and Recreation e) Approved Text Amendment Fee Ordinance - Parks and Recreation f) Approved Appointment Recommendation Police Officer - Human Resources g) Approved Appointment Recommendation Fire Department - Human Resources h) Approved Appointment Recommendation Fire Department - Human Resources i) Approved Appointment Recommendation Fire Department - Human Resources j) Approved Appointment Recommendation Fire Department - Human Resources 1) Accepted Resignation Rambling River Center Advisory Board - Administration m) Approved Temporary On-Sale Liquor License - Administration n) Adopted RESOLUTION RI-IO Approving Gambling Event Permit- Administration 0) Adopted RESOLUTION R2-10 Approving Gambling Event Permit- Administration p) Approved Bills r) Approved Gaming and 3.2 Beer License - Administration APIF, MOTION CARRIED. d) Ice Arena Task Force Members - Parks and Recreation Councilmember Wilson asked Parks and Recreation Director Distad to address how the public composition of the task force came about and address ways that residents can stay informed as to what is going on. Council Minutes (Regular) January 4,2010 Page 3 Parks and Recreation Director Distad stated there have been two meetings to discuss the task force. Those meetings involved school district staff, City staff, and Farmington Youth Hockey Association Board of Directors members. They developed a list of people who would serve well on the task force. There is representation from the School District, City staff and community representation. The two individuals from the community have been involved in past facilities studies and are connected through other youth organizations other than hockey. The meetings for the task force will be public meetings so anyone can attend. The minutes and meeting dates can be published on the City's website, MOTION by Fogarty, second by Wilson to approve the appointment of the task force. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. k) Boards and Commissions Attendance - Administration Councilmember Wilson thanked those who volunteered to serve on the various Boards and Commissions. Mayor Larson noted if anyone is interested in serving on a Board or Commission there are some seats available. p) Approve Bills Regarding the Bonestroo bill, Councilmember May noted it is for October 25 - November 30 services, The amount is over $95,000. She wanted to know if this was factored into the 2009 budget even though the check is dated January 1,2010. Staff confirmed the accounting will be done in 2009. Councilmember Wilson noted Council did receive an itemized statement for Bonestroo. He asked for an updated spreadsheet for all of 2009 payables for Bonestroo for the workshop next week. 8. PUBLIC HEARINGS 9. A WARD OF CONTRACT 10. PETITIONS, REQUESTS AND COMMUNICATIONS a) Annual Organizational Matters - Administration MOTION by Fogarty, second by Wilson as follows: 10a(I). That Councilmember Wilson be designated as Acting Mayor from January 5, 2010 through December 31, 2010. 10a(2). That the Farmington Independent be designated as the official publication from January 5,2010 through December 31, 2010. ThisWeek Newspaper also requested to be the official newspaper. Council can appoint more than one legal newspaper, however notices would have to be published in both papers and this Council Minutes (Regular) January 4, 2010 Page 4 was not included in the budget. Councilmember May reviewed the Statute and it does provide an exception to the priorities if there is another official publication that reaches not fewer than 75% ofthe households, Council could elect a different paper. City Attorney Jamnik explained the ranking for the office would still be the known office of issue rather than a secondary office. Under the current Statute the Farmington Independent is the only one that has a known office of issue and is the only one qualified for that ranking. Councilmember May would like to follow up with the City Attorney. She noted This Week newspaper does reach a larger number of households. The bids received could not even be compared with the information given. City Attorney Jamnik stated for large scale contracts, staff places a notice in the Construction Bulletin. Notices for RFP's, etc. are also placed on the City's website. Historically Council has determined not to spend the money on additional publications because it is already done with other trade publications and other ways that do not involve a cost. Councilmember Wilson noted the EDA has discussed using This Week as a vehicle of information for marketing. lOa(3). Appoint the firm of Campbell Knutson, Joel Jamnik as City Attorney from January 5, 2010 through December 31, 2010, Councilmember May noted it has been several years since this has gone out for bid and asked why we would not consider doing that. She appreciated the fees are not increasing for 2010, but she felt we have saved money on other items when taking them out for bid. She asked if Council would want to consider this as ten years is a long time. Mayor Larson agreed that ten years is a long time. Councilmember Wilson was open to doing this. He asked if it works in the same manner as a competitive bidding process. In terms of legal services, the lowest bidder does not always mean the most qualified. City Attorney Jamnik replied for professional services Council is not required to take the lowest bid. Councilmember Donnelly was not unhappy with the service now, but would go along with the majority of Council. There is a lot to be said for continuity. He asked if the contract was up. City Attorney Jamnik stated there is no requirement for an annual appointment, but it has been the practice of the City to have an annual contract and appointment. The contract can be terminated on 30 days notice by either party. It is not uncommon for cities to have a review of consultant services every 5-6 years. Council needs to determine if it works into their work plan and staffs work plan to spend the time to do that. It can be structured with staff or Council interviews. Some cities have a defined time for review for consultant services including the City Attorney. Councilmember Fogarty felt it was not a good use of staffs time as she felt they would not find anything better. She would not object if the majority of Council wanted to do this as she felt they would still chose the same firm. Mayor Larson agreed. There have been no problems, but it is a good idea to review it. Mayor Larson asked if Council wanted to do a review process or a bidding process. Councilmember Fogarty felt a review would be better as a bidding process involves a lot of staff time. Councilmember Wilson stated we are short a Finance Director and the legal rates are not changing. We did bring this up last year and he felt Council needs to hold staff accountable to Council Minutes (Regular) January 4,2010 Page 5 look at it next year. Councilmember May felt we did not have to set a rule to do this every few years, but since it has been such a long time, she felt they needed a bid process. Councilmember Donnelly asked about the difference between a review and an RFP. City Attorney Jamnik stated historically when Council wants a review, he provides a survey which is completed by whoever Council directs; whether it be staff, department heads, Councilmembers, or other consultants and tabulates the form. A discussion is held with Council or staff to go over the survey response. Councilmember May is talking about a broader RFP where staff would put together an RFP, which are standardized for civil and prosecution services, advertise it and ask other firms that provide other municipal legal services to respond with a rate structure, personnel, their experience of staff, have an interview process to evaluate whether to retain the current attorney services or change. The review survey is more like a personnel evaluation process. Administrative Services Director Shadick suggested discussing this with the City Administrator at the February workshop. Councilmember Donnelly suggested approving this and we could still go out for RFP or do a review and give notice if we want to change. Councilmember Wilson clarified the termination notice. City Attorney Jamnik clarified there is no time limit for the Council; it is 90 days for the law firm to terminate, Councilmember Fogarty agreed with approving this tonight and to add it to the City Administrator's review at the workshop next month. Councilmember May stated if we do not want to move on these types of things and it is providing a process, then there should be a hard and fast number of years where this would be completed. Mayor Larson suggested approving this as is and next year send out for bids. City Attorney Jamnik will provide a survey form and if they want to go out for bid they can use it at any time. This will still be added to the February workshop. 10a(4). That the Anchor Bank of Farmington, League of Minnesota Cities 4M Fund, RBC Dain Rauscher, Wells Fargo Investments. Smith Barney Inc., and Roundbank (Farmington) be designated as the Official Depositories from January 5, 2010 through December 31,2010. 10a(5). That all sworn personnel in the Farmington Police Department be designated as process servers for the calendar year 2010. 10a(6). Approve a $1,000,000 Faithful Performance bond for the City Clerk. 10a(7). ORDINANCE NO. 009-618 Establishing Fees and Charges for licenses and permits for 2010 was adopted December 21, 2009. 10a(8). Appointments to Boards and Commissions - Candidates will be interviewed January 13, 2010 and appointments will be made at the January 19,2010 Council Meeting. 10a(9). Appoint Councilmember Wilson as the primary and Councilmember Fogarty as the alternate representative to the ALF Ambulance Board. Council Minutes (Regular) January 4,2010 Page 6 lOa(lO). Appoint a Councilmember as the City's representative to the CEEF Committee. Councilmember May noted looking at the other advisory groups, this is the only one that is a SOlc3. When Council discussed the issue of the loan to CEEF, City Attorney Jamnik mentioned we appoint a City Councilmember to be on the CEEF Board. She questioned why we want to appoint someone to CEEF. She felt it opened up some liability issues. It is a different type of group than any of the others which are more advisory, discussion groups. They are not groups that raise funds and incur expenses. City Attorney Jamnik agreed that was one of the issues of having someone entangled with government operations. If you want a separate line, then the non-profit should select their representatives independently. If Council is comfortable with proceeding as we have in the past where the non-profit looks to the subordinate entities that serve as a recommending entity to say who they want to represent that jurisdiction, then it is up to Council to decide. Councilmember May stated if a Councilmember wants to serve on the CEEF committee, they can do that. The difference is we are appointing someone to be on the board. She did not believe we should be doing that. Councilmember Wilson agreed. Councilmember Donnelly stated it does not bind the City. City Attorney Jamnik confirmed this as it is still a separate legal entity like the EDA, but the Council is not fully separated from the EDA either. The overlap with CEEF is less obvious, but historically has been there. If Council chooses to separate, then to stop doing past practice is a logical step. If Council is comfortable with past relationships, then there is no reason to change. The City no longer has the authority to create non-profits without the express statutory authority. Previous non-profits are allowed to remain in existence. Mayor Larson asked since the City gave CEEF a large loan, will that lessen the ability to get repaid. City Attorney Jamnik felt it would not have any impact on that or the participation of the Police Chief in the activities. It is more a case of communication and connection. It is easier to stay in touch having a person on the board. Councilmember Fogarty noted there are four separate jurisdictions that come together on this board. She understood the concerns, but there could be some political ramifications for the City to pull out and disassociate ourselves from this board. It sends a negative message to the other entities who do appoint people to the board. The 501 c3 is just a tax designation and does not define what the organization is. It has been very important to Farmington for decades, She had no interest in not appointing someone to the board. Mayor Larson noted the townships all have appointed elected officials to the board. Councilmember Wilson stated the Council felt undue pressure to fund the deficit that occurred. He felt we did the right thing, but he heard the majority of Council at that time that now that the debt issue has been resolved, how do we restructure this or back away so they can be self-reliant and still have City involvement. Not appointing someone to the board does not mean the City is pulling out their involvement. At that time it seemed prudent to take care of the debt to repay the businesses and we have not taken the next step we wanted to at that time which was to regroup and determine how this would look in the future from a City perspective. Council Minutes (Regular) January 4,2010 Page 7 Councilmember Donnelly stated especially in light ofthe loan we should stay connected and show support for the organization. Whoever we appoint can be part of the restructuring and the way it is run. That is even more reason to have someone from Council on the board to have a voice in it. The purpose ofCEEF is to promote the community. Mayor Larson was not interested in pulling out of CEEF. Councilmember May stated she was not saying they should pull out ofCEEF, It is a matter of whether we should appoint a Councilmember to be on the board. This was pulled for a separate vote. lOa(ll). Appoint Councilmember Fogarty, Staff member Peter Herlofsky and a Planning Commission member to the Farmington/Empire Planning Advisory Committee. lOa(12). Appoint Councilmember Larson, Staff member Peter Herlofsky and a Planning Commission member to the Farmington/Castle Rock Discussion Group, lOa(13). Appoint Councilmember May, Staff member Peter Herlofsky, and a Planning Commission member to the Eureka/Farmington Planning Advisory Committee. lOa(14). Appoint Councilmembers Donnelly and May to the MUSA Review Committee. lOa(15). Appoint Brenda Wendlandt as Director and Peter Herlofsky as Alternate to LOGIS for 2010. lOa(16). Appoint by RESOLUTION R3-10 Peter J. Herlofsky, Jr. as the Responsible Authority for data practices and Brenda Wendlandt as Data Practices Act Compliance Officer and Brian Lindquist as Responsible Authority for law enforcement for 2010. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. lOa(lO). Appoint Mayor Larson as the City's representative to the CEEF Committee, MOTION by Fogarty, second by Donnelly to appoint Mayor Larson to the CEEF Committee. Voting for: Larson, Donnelly, Fogarty. Voting against: May, Wilson. MOTION CARRIED. b) Approve Plans and Authorize Bids Walnut Street Project - Engineering Council authorized preparation of plans and specifications at the October 5,2009, Council meeting. Staff is proposing to go out for bid. Bids would be received on February 5, 2010, and the contract would be awarded at the February 16,2010, Council meeting. The project would start as soon as spring load restrictions are lifted and would be completed prior to the start of the 2010-2011 school year with the understanding there is no way to not affect a school year. The project would cover 9.5 blocks. City staff will be responsible for the contract management and inspection on the project. The estimated cost is $3.865 million which includes 10% for contingencies and 27% for engineering, legal and administration. Once bids are received, Council will be provided with an updated analysis. As assessments are collected over time, the City will bond for the total cost of the proj ect. Council Minutes (Regular) January 4, 2010 Page 8 Councilmember Wilson previously asked about consulting engineering services. He noted there would be some level of consulting work needed, but felt Council needed to set an expectation as to how much consulting work will be done on each individual project without micro-managing a project from Council. He would like this discussed at the engineering workshop next week. He asked if there would be an opportunity for residents to interact with the contractor and set up a meeting once a month. City Engineer Schorzman stated having the City staff out on the project last year helped to address residents' issues. Councilmember May asked for an explanation of the legal and administrative portions. If we are bonding for the full amount, but not charging that, aren't we double dipping? City Engineer Schorzman stated any proceeds not used for project costs are returned to pay off the bonds. The legal charges cover the City Attorney reviewing the contracts, language with the contractors and changes that are made, the ad for bid, etc. Councilmember May asked about the administrative costs. City Engineer Schorzman stated the administrative costs include his work as sometimes it is engineering and sometimes it is administrative. Councilmember May asked why that number would be part of the overall bond amount since he is already paid staff. City Engineer Schorzman stated they try to keep an accurate assessment of what the project actually costs. Without including what City staff does, you do not know the true project cost. Councilmember May felt you could still track that, but why bond for it? Staff replied the variability in that amount is difficult to track. If we do not use it, we repay the bonds with it. Councilmember May asked for this to be added to the workshop next week. She noted at a previous meeting a resident asked about getting a new driveway and asked if we could get them in touch with the contract. Staff will facilitate that communication. Councilmember Donnelly confirmed we select the lowest bid and then add the 10% and the 27% and then bond for that amount. City Attorney Jamnik confirmed this and then the assessments are set on the project closeout costs. MOTION by Wilson, second by Fogarty to adopt RESOLUTION R4-10 approving the plans and specifications and authorizing the advertisement for bids for the Walnut Street Reconstruction Project. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. 11. UNFINISHED BUSINESS a) Ice Arena Feasibility Study - Mayor Larson Mayor Larson stated there have been a lot of questions as to whether we need a feasibility study and what it does. He was under the impression we did need a feasibility study for this project and then found out we do not need one, but we should have one. He asked staff to explain why we need a feasibility study. City Engineer Schorzman stated the confusion has come in by calling it a feasibility report. What Council purchased for $41,000 is a big box called the design carried through to the preparation of the bids. Inside that box are smaller boxes. One is a feasibility report or a preliminary engineering estimate. It is a Council Minutes (Regular) January 4,2010 Page 9 more global top down view of the project in enough detail that you can refine those costs and make sure you are not missing something. They look at what kind of compressors we will use, what kind of cooling system will be used, they talk to staff and drill that down from a global perspective to get an idea of what this project is going to be. This is what we called a feasibility report. The next box that leads to is preparation of detailed plans based on staff and Council's comfort level with that overview. If Council is comfortable with the direction, then you get into the detailed plans and specs. If you go straight into detailed plans and specs, it costs much more in money and time to go back if you miss something. After the detailed plans are done, then you put specifications together for all the different components of the plans. Mayor Larson asked where we determine if we want to go with a Freon unit or geothermal? Will that be recommended to Council and then we decide? Staff replied yes. You will get a broad scope saying this is what we should move forward with and why. Mayor Larson then asked when we find out how much grant money is available for either system. He understood there was grant money and stimulus money available. Staff stated that is part of the preliminary look at the project. You will have more definite answers once you get the overview back. Staff cannot predict whether agencies will say which grants are approved or not; it may not follow the same timeline, You will have the information on what is out there and how it can be applied to this broad overview. Mayor Larson asked if staff can research whether there is grant money or stimulus money out there. City Engineer Schorzman replied once we determine a direction. City Engineer Schorzman continued, once you get through the detailed plans and specs, then you use those to prepare detailed bidding documents which include what the bid items will be, how much of each one, etc. The $41,000 includes all four boxes inside the big box; not just the feasibility report. Unless it is specifically bid as a cost for the feasibility report and a cost for the design, you will not have a way to determine how much the feasibility report cost versus the preparation of the plans and the specs because it was bid as a package, not four separate packages. Councilmember Wilson stated some questions he asked two weeks ago pertain to the type of bidder you would be looking for. If staff is preparing an engineering report that has different components to arrive at a package of bidding documents, when you send them out to the market to have them tell us what they can do this package for, couldn't we be limiting the scope of companies that could be doing the work based on the limitations of the bid documents? He suggested having the companies come to us and provide specs on what they could do the project for and the scope of the work. He wants staff to reach out to the City of New Hope on the process they used for their Ice Arena. According to the newspaper articles, they were very much in control of how they wanted the process to work. He felt we were not in as much control as he would like. We look at things in the same linear fashion and wondered if there were different ways to look at it. City Council Minutes (Regular) January 4, 2010 Page 10 Engineer Schorzman stated the way this is put together, it will allow more flexibility to get better bids because you are not limiting to manufacturers as much as you would through a hybrid design build process. Design build projects are good when you need something done fast and quality. They are more expensive projects. Projects where you ask someone to come in and do the design, while they may have other subcontractors that provide the materials and labor tend to limit the manufacturers that can bid on it, just by the process itself. City Attorney J amnik noted part of the reason Council went with Bonestroo is because we received a 50% reduction as they are familiar with the City and the arena. 12. NEW BUSINESS 13. COUNCIL ROUNDTABLE a) January 11,2010 Workshop - Engineering Staff noted the workshop could last approximately three hours. Councilmemher May: Asked for an update on issues at the arena over the weekend. Parks and Recreation Director Distad explained an electrical line was severed underground and we lost power at the Ice Arena on Sunday so we had to shut it down. They did run a temporary line above ground today so it is up and running and they hope to have the line fixed tomorrow. It was nothing to do with the area, equipment or the ice. Councilmemher Fogarty: She asked if it was possible to send a NixIe message or some type of communication to Council on weekends when issues happen. She and Mayor Larson received a lot of questions and they did not have any answers. Parks and Recreation Director Distad stated staff can e-mail Council if there are issues where the arena is closed. He will work with arena staff on how to handle emergency situations. Councilmember Fogarty noted the outdoor rinks are flooded. A resident asked if the warming houses are ever closed if it is too cold to be outside. Staff replied yes, there is a closure policy on the website. If the temperature is -20 we do close. Everyone has received the 2010 Community Calendar. There were over 150 photos submitted and it is appreciated. Staff did an amazing job putting it together. There will be a facelift to the website. There will be a presentation at the January 19, 2010, Council meeting. The Rambling River Center is having a steak fry at the VFW, January 16,2010, as a fund raIser. Residents can put Christmas trees out this week for the City to pick up. Council Minutes (Regular) January 4, 20 I 0 Page 11 The Community Expo will be held January 30,2010, at the new Farmington High School. Councilmemher Wilson: He called Community Ed to find out if they had running tracks around the high school. The school has an indoor walking program. You can buy a walking pass for $5 and use any of the schools for safe walking. Rosemount created a youth commission. He asked staff to look into this. It is like a Planning or Park and Rec Commission, but it is comprised of youth. They bring issues to the City that have a youth perspective. There is a Council or staff advisor. It is a way to connect with an important segment of the community. City Engineer Schorzman: He encouraged Council if they have any engineering questions for the workshop next week, to provide them ahead of time so he can research them, Mayor Larson: Thanked the snow plowing crew for their great work over the holidays. They did an incredible job. If residents have a fire hydrant in their yard, it is important to shovel them out. He encouraged residents to sign up for NixIe. He encouraged residents to shop locally and support Farmington businesses. The more support they get the more likely we can attract new businesses. He congratulated the Farmington UIO Orange Girls Hockey Team for taking third place in the tournament this weekend, 14. ADJOURN MOTION by Fogarty, second by Wilson to adjourn at 8:40 p.m. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. Respectfully submitted, /'/ '-;;0<"/;:""'- ) J ~ -/// L./,' ,....C./Lc-a.... ',.. ?~eee"<:/ "Cynthia Muller Executive Assistant