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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04.05.10 Council Minutes 5~ COUNCIL MINUTES REGULAR April 5, 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; Peter Herlofsky, City Administrator; Teresa Walters, Finance Director; Randy Distad, Parks and Recreation Director; Kevin Schorzman, City Engineer; Lisa Shadick, Administrative Services Director; Brenda Wendlandt, Human Resources Director; Cynthia Muller, Executive Assistant Colin Garvey, Tom Flanagan 4. APPROVE AGENDA Councilmember May had questions on 71) February 2010 Financial Report, 7n) Joint Powers Agreement - Records Management System, 70) Bills. She pulled item 7m) School and Conference - Human Resources for separate vote. City Administrator Herlofsky added item 7p) Approve Temporary On-Sale Liquor License - Farmington VFW Club. Parks and Recreation Director Distad noted on item7h) Approve Sale of City Equipment at Spring Auction there is an item added to Exhibit A. MOTION by Fogarty, second by Wilson to approve the Agenda. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. 5. ANNOUNCEMENTS a) Introduce New Finance Director, Teresa Walters City Administrator Herlofsky welcomed new Finance Director, Teresa Walters. She started on March 22,2010. 6. CITIZEN COMMENTS Mr. Colin Garvey, 22098 Canton Court, stated at the February 16, 2010, meeting Council approved the Walnut Street project and bonded for the correct amount. Going back to the last six projects, he feels the City over-bonded by $6.8 million on these projects. If it is truly a savings to the taxpayer, why did the City over-bond so much and where did the money go. Mayor Larson asked for a list of the projects. Mr. Garvey was talking about the Ash Street pond, Main Street project, Ash Street Street project, Elm Street, 195th Street, and he felt the City over-bonded on the City Hall project by $850,000. City Administrator Herlofsky asked that Mr. Garvey provide him with the documents he has and he will meet with Mr. Garvey and bring Council a report on this item. Mr. Garvey 8 Council Minutes (Regular) April 5, 2010 Page 2 also added the 4th and 5th Street project to the list stating the City over-bonded by $1 million. City Engineer Schorzman stated the City did not bond for that project last year. Mr. Garvey stated the original estimate was at $2.5 million and the bid came in at $1.2 million. City Engineer Schorzman stated we did not bond for that project; the money came from the utility funds. Mr. Garvey asked why we are bonding for Walnut Street. Staff explained because it is a reconstruction. The project on 4th and 5th Streets was intended to get the trunk utilities to a point where we could do Walnut Street. Mr. Garvey stated 195th Street was $8.3 million and the City bonded for $12 million; so we over-bonded by $3.7 million. Staffwill provide an explanation of where the money went. Mr. Garvey spoke about the storm water runoff fee. He calculated that the City collects close to $686,000/year. He asked why the fee is so high. Mr. Garvey stated there are 7500 houses at $9/house/quarter plus the businesses. Mr. Garvey asked for a report of what the City does collect in a year. 7. CONSENT AGENDA MOTION by Fogarty, second by Wilson to approve the Consent Agenda as follows: a) Approve Council Minutes (3/15/10 Regular) (3/22/10 Workshop) b) Adopted RESOLUTION R19-10 approving Dakota Future Google Application- Administration c) Approved School and Conference - Administration d) Received Information School and Conference - Police e) Received Information School and Conference - Police t) Received Information School and Conference - Police g) Adopted RESOLUTION R20-10 approving All Hazard Mitigation Plan - Police h) Approved Sale of City Equipment at Spring Auction - Parks and Recreation i) Approved Temporary On-Sale Liquor License - Administration j) Adopted RESOLUTION R21-10 approving Gambling Event Permit - Administration k) Approved Mowing Contract - Natural Resources 1) February 2010 Financial Report - Finance Councilmember May stated the report gives a snapshot of where we are with budget numbers and percent received. In looking at the revenues, she has raised this before about the fmes, and was concerned that the number is overstated this year, as well as last year. She noted there was a big jump in February compared to January. Under miscellaneous, she asked what the $35,000 was attributed to. Finance Director Walters stated it is the ALF contribution of$33,011. This was a one time occurrence. Councilmember May will follow-up with staff on where the remaining miscellaneous amount comes from. Looking at the separate fund balances, Councilmember May asked about the membership at the new Rambling River Center. Parks and Recreation Director Distad stated the membership is down by 40 members from last year; however, 9 Council Minutes (Regular) April 5,2010 Page 3 the snowbirds will be coming back now. Councilmember May cautioned to watch the operating expenses. n) Approve Joint Powers Agreement - Records Management System - Police Councilmember May noted in the bills there is the purchase of a new Motorola unit. With the new system, why did we purchase a new Motorola system that will no longer be supported? She will discuss this further under the list of bills. If this will occur in 2010, will we see a savings in the budget, because this change was not budgeted? Human Resources Director Wendlandt stated the change wasn't, however, the Police have a records management system through Logis that we are being billed for. This new system will take the place of the Legis system and cost us less in the long run. Mayor Larson asked how it will affect the 2010 budget. City Administrator Herlofsky stated Motorola had a system through Logis. Motorola will no longer provide this system. They had another system, but the cost was substantial. Some cities in Dakota County also had an arrangement with CJIIN for the purpose of sharing records between cities. Out of 12 units of government, eight have chosen the same as Farmington which was to go with CJIIN. There is substantial less cost for this proposal. Farmington will be one of the test locations this summer for the upgraded software. The cost will be close to breaking even this year. Councilmember May asked ifthere was an additional $7,275 budget impact for 2010. There was also an attachment showing a cost of $13,095 for 2010. Council asked what we are paying Logis now. Staffwill respond back to Council on the Logis amount and the budget impact. Councilmember Fogarty stated of the eight communities, why do we split the cost equally. She felt Farmington would generate fewer records than a City the size of Burnsville. City Administrator Herlofsky stated everyone is using the same system and it allows us to get into other records, besides ours. Councilmember Fogarty asked despite the fact we will not use the same system as everyone in Dakota County, will the information in other systems be more difficult for us to access. City Administrator Herlofsky stated the agreement is that everyone will have access to the same systems, even with two systems being invo lved. Councilmember Donnelly stated the system we have, they are discontinuing. We have to buy one of two systems; the higher priced Motorola or the CJIIN system which is lower priced. We are going with the lower priced option. City Administrator Herlofsky stated he is correct, and the choice was made because it is a better system. Councilmember May asked when this will occur? City Administrator Herlofsky replied cities will be brought into the system over the next two years. 0) Approve Bills Councilmember May noted Patrol Services purchased two new police cars. She asked what the rotation is for new vehicles. The rotation goes by mileage. She recalled this was discussed during the budget and was not sure if any vehicles 10 Council Minutes (Regular) AprilS, 2010 Page 4 were purchased last year and if we anticipate any others. Finance Director Walters stated there are three budgeted for this year and two for next year. Councilmember May asked if there was a central ordering for departments for janitorial supplies. Parks and Recreation Director Distad stated Jeremy Pire, the Facilities Supervisor takes care of ordering janitorial supplies and allocates them to departments. The supplies are charged to the budgets for each building. Councilmember May noted on the list is a Motorola radio kit for $3,023. She asked why we are purchasing this based on the previous agenda item. Human Resources Director Wendlandt explained it is two different things. There is the records system and the radios in the squad cars. Councilmember May noted we purchased $18,000 worth of PC's and monitors. She assumed this was a budgeted item and asked if there was a rotation for computers. Human Resources Director Wendlandt stated there is a four year rotation. However, we only replace them as necessary. City Administrator Herlofsky noted it is only the CPU's that are replaced. Councilmember May noted on the item for Farmington High School, there is a negative $2,224 for hockey ticket proceeds and a positive $2,892 for hockey ticket proceeds. Parks and Recreation Director Distad explained the game receipts cover the cost of the ice rental and staffing costs. After that there is the remaining gate. If there is positive revenue the City splits that with the school. If there is not enough to cover the cost, then the City bills the school to cover the difference. Councilmember May asked what all the flags are for. Parks and Recreation Director Distad stated there is a rotation with the flags for various City buildings. They become torn over the winter. Councilmember May noted there was a payment for annual sprinkler inspections. She asked if the maintenance staff can do this. Parks and Recreation Director Distad explained this is for the fIre sprinklers in the buildings and there is a requirement they be inspected annually. p) Approved Temporary On-Sale Liquor License - Farmington VFW Club - Administration APIF, MOTION CARRIED. m) School and Conference - Human Resources Councilmember May asked ifwe could send only one person to the conference. Human Resources Director Wendlandt stated this is for the Upper Midwest Employment Law Institute for Human Resource Professionals and Attorneys. She has requested that she and the HR Representative be allowed to attend. There is a large volume of information with many different tracks at the same time. It is 11 Council Minutes (Regular) April 5, 2010 Page 5 beneficial to have two people go so each one can attend different sessions. Councilmember May wondered if the second person would benefit from educational credits. She was trying to cut back on spending. She recommended sending the Human Resources Director to the conference. Councilmember Wilson stated unless it is out-of-state, he supports employee training. It is beneficial for our professional staff to keep up to date. He would support sending both people. Councilmember Donnelly stated it is $695 per person to go to St. Paul for two days; it is not $7,000. Mayor Larson understood we are trying to cut back, but would support the conference. City Administrator Herlofsky encouraged Council to consider this seriously as it is important to our organization. Public employees labor relations law is not fun. Staff needs to be made aware of any changes in the laws. MOTION by Wilson, second by Fogarty to approve attendance for Brenda Wendlandt and Georgia Larson to attend the 2010 Upper Midwest Employment Law Institute. Voting for: Larson, Donnelly, Fogarty, Wilson. Voting against: May. MOTION CARRIED. 8. PUBLIC HEARINGS a) Walnut Street Reconstruction Plan Bonds - Engineering The Walnut Street Reconstruction project was awarded at the February 16, 2010, Council meeting. This bond sale is subject to a reverse referendum and a unanimous vote of the Council is required to move forward with the bond sale. The bond amount was determined by taking the low bid of$1.9 million, add 10% for contingency which comes to $2,080,000. Then add administrative costs to that to cover the entire cost of the project; not just the construction cost because there are costs to the project outside of just paying the contractor. This comes to a total of $2.64 million. At the project award meeting, staff stated we would bond for $2 million. Actually we need to bond for $2.5 million to cover the cost of the construction. The difference is staff incorrectly took the assessments out of the amount. We cannot use the assessment money to pay the contractor as we collect the assessment money over the same time period we pay the bonds. The assessment money is used to reduce the amount oflevy necessary to make bond payments in the future. There are also additional costs to selling bonds which are the cost of issuing the bonds and the interest for the fIrst year. As we will not assess the project until next year, we need money there to make the first interest payment in February 2011. Councilmember Fogarty stated we would bond for $2.5 million, but we still only pay the cost. Any amount remaining pays back the bond. City Engineer Schorzman stated they will fmalize the number at the next meeting. Councilmember May stated because there is a cost to selling the bonds and we have to pay the interest the fIrst year, she wanted to see the number lower. She had discussed with staff the 27% administrative cost. She did not want to include 12 Council Minutes (Regular) April 5,2010 Page 6 that number. She assumed between now and the fmal approval, staff will iron that out. City Engineer Schorzman stated at the April 19, 2010, meeting we will fmalize the number for the amount of bonds we will sell. Tonight we are setting the cap that we cannot go over. Councilmember May understood there is a department cost because staff spends time on the project, but they are already paid. She did not understand why we are including the administrative number in the bond number. She challenged staff to show her how that is handled in accounting as the years go on. Staffwill give Council some options on the policy. Councilmember May did not want interest paid on the bond for salaries that are already paid with tax dollars. MOTION by Wilson, second by Fogarty to close the public hearing. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. MOTION by Fogarty, second by Wilson to adopt RESOLUTION R22-10 giving preliminary approval for the issuance of the City's General Obligation Street Reconstruction Plan Bonds in an amount not to exceed $2,510,000 and adopting the City of Farmington Minnesota Street Reconstruction plan of2010 through 2014. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. 9. AWARD OF CONTRACT a) Approve Schmitz-Maid Arena Improvements Contract - Parks and Recreation The improvement project was split into three projects. Staff was asking Council to approve the ice system replacement and the dasher boards. For the ice system replacement, Total Mechanical was the low bidder for $740,104. Alternate 2, a subsoil heating system; and alternate 3, a subsoil drainage system were also included for a total bid of$808,149. Becker Arena Products was the low bid for the dasher boards in the amount of$106,140. This includes alternate 1 which is curved shielding at all four rink radii. Total Mechanical was the low bidder for the dehumidification system in the amount of$280,032. Staffhas decided not to include the dehumidification system as part of the project based on the current use of the arena. Project costs include: Total Project Cost $ 808,149.00 106,410.00 45,727.95 41,400.00 20,500.00 $1,022,186.95 Ice System Replacement including Alternates 2 and 3 Dasher Boards including Alternate 1 5% Contingency Engineering and Design Fees Construction Management Services Mr. Gary Kristofitz, Bonestroo, answered several questions from Council. Councilmember May noted some residents have talked about doing volunteer work. Mr. Kristofitz stated the contractor is hiring outside contractors and the project was open for anyone to bid on. Councilmember May still felt the process was backwards. There is nothing in the proposal that talks about a payment plan with the school or the hockey association. Parks and Recreation Director Distad 13 Council Minutes (Regular) AprilS, 2010 Page 7 stated that option is still out there. Staff has not talked with them further. Councilmember May thought the idea was that we had to have numbers so we could have those discussions. We have numbers and now staffis coming to Council for approval without having discussions on those numbers. Councilmember Wilson asked about the warranties. Mr. Kristofrtz stated there is a two year warranty on the mechanical and the floors. Councilmember Wilson stated this is a community amenity and we need to support it, but it is a big expense to the taxpayers. He asked ifthere was an opportunity for energy efficient grants. Mr. Kristofitz did not know of any programs available at this time. The programs have expired. Staffhas been making energy efficient improvements with the ceiling and the lighting. Councilmember Fogarty noted members of the hockey association and a local contractor have said they would help with demolition. The next thing Council will be asked to approve is hiring a construction manager. She thought they would be hiring a construction manager to allow that assistance. She wanted the inkind donations to help reduce the cost and asked ifthat was not discussed with the contractor. Mr. Kristofrtz stated that is not in the current bid, but he could talk to the low bidder. Demolition would be very difficult for volunteers. It is very dangerous. The process includes cutting the cement floor into 8x8 ft. slabs so they will weigh several thousand pounds and need to be lifted and placed on a semi. The cutting is done with very large saws. It could be a local contractor, but he was not sure who the subcontractor is. Right now the bid does not include volunteer contribution. Councilmember Fogarty asked if someone came to the contractor and said I am willing to do it for free, that does not mean it will reduce the cost. Mr. Kristofitz stated the cost from the subcontractor would have to be determined and a change order for that amount. If the contractor is a union contractor, he probably will not allow anyone on the project that is not union. City Administrator Herlofsky stated donated supplies would be the best contribution. Mr. Kristofrtz noted if the contractor wanted to completely take over the demolition, that may be allowed, but if the contractor wants to use some of his people and some City staff, that would not work. Councilmember Wilson stated he did not expect volunteer work with going out for bids. With the Rambling River Center, the City managed the project and contracted with local people. Councilmember May asked if the door was closed on volunteer work. Mr. Kristofrtz felt the door was not closed and it could be discussed. Councilmember May asked how Council could vote without knowing the answers if he would be open to other subs. It does not sound like it was presented this way. We are in a difficult economic climate and we need to be cost saving. Ifwe move forward with a vote, she felt the door would be closed. Councilmember Wilson agreed. Councilmember May would like to hear what the contractor says about allowing in-kind work. City Administrator Herlofsky stated this project is substantially 14 Council Minutes (Regular) AprilS, 2010 Page 8 different than the Rambling River Center. Work that required a license was done by licensed contractors. Volunteer work did not require a license. City Administrator Herlofsky stated the objective directed to staffwas after the ice rink was closed, to proceed with this project as quickly as possible to make sure we have ice available in the fall. Staff felt any deviation from that would be a failure if we did not have ice. This makes sure the work is done and in a timely manner. Councilmember Fogarty noted there is no timeline. Parks and Recreation Director Distad replied it is part of the bid document. Construction should be done by mid-September so it is up and running by October 1. Councilmember Fogarty was comfortable with that time line, but wanted to know about the guarantees. Mr. Kristofrtz stated there are liquidated damages on each of the contracts. Parks and Recreation Director Distad noted ifwe rely on volunteers and they do not show up, the entire project is held up. By having the work done by one contractor they control the schedule and completing the project in the timeline. There are liquidated damages, but it is not dependent on volunteers. Mayor Larson stated ifwe use volunteers, you can throw the liquidated damages out the window. Mr. Tom Flanagan, Hockey Association, stated they had a discussion at their March meeting about helping the City fmancially with the project. The discussion was based on a long term commitment of 10 years. The association is committed to this, but they do not have a fmal number because they needed to have the bills from the end of the season. They will be voting on April 14, 2010, on a dollar amount and the length of that commitment. There is a large commitment from the hockey board. Councilmember Fogarty noted a 10 year commitment would pay off the bond. She realized they cannot bind future hockey boards. One thing she would like the hockey association to discuss is a more long term permanent commitment and she will ask the same thing from the school district. The City is in this situation today, because 30 years ago no one took the foresight to say we should be putting money aside. Whatever contribution the hockey association, school district and the City put forward into this project, should be a long term, continuing process where we are banking that money so the next time this comes up, the three entities have the cash to pay for the project. Mr. Flanagan agreed the hockey association would have those discussions for years to come. Councilmember May stated there are still no concrete comments from the school or the hockey association. When Council talked about the feasibility study and spending $41,000, the reason was so that we would have numbers so the school and the association could become part of the discussion on payment. She understood staffwas following Council's direction, but missed a piece. She was not getting any feedback from the school, and some from the hockey association with no number tied to it. She cannot vote yes, because she does not have all the information she needs, and Council has not given enough consideration to the task force and our long term goals. We are talking about spending $1 million and 15 Council Minutes (Regular) AprilS, 2010 Page 9 there is a two year warranty, and the task force says a new arena should be built at the new high school. The process seems flawed, but not having ice next fall is not a good option. She cannot vote for something with incomplete information. Councilmember Fogarty stated we need to have ice next fall. She did not agree with some of the things that have been said. It was clear that we wanted to have a door left open for volunteers. She was hearing that supporting this does not close that door. She wanted to make it perfectly clear; ifthere are volunteers from the hockey association or the community, she wants every single avenue open and the ability for them to do that. She wants every opportunity explored to reduce the cost. We have a time line that is extremely tight. She has been clear that she is supportive of fixing the arena. She realized we do not have all the financial pieces in order. We have general support from the school district and the hockey association. Ultimately this is a City building and the City's responsibility. We need to repair the ice or face the association and the community and tell them we don't support the ice arena being repaired. Ultimately, it is our responsibility. It was our responsibility in the past to have been collecting fees that would give us the capital expenses. That was not done. That is on this Council and everyone who sat here for the last 30 years. Now we have to take the responsibility to repair the arena. She was confident we will have partners in this project. We need to move forward tonight. Councilmember Wilson stated with the arena there has been little historical planning and money set aside. The fact it has not been going on, does not mean we do not have an obligation to fix a City facility. The task force did make some good recommendations, however the tradeoff for a tax payer is building a new arena for $5-6 million or a long term fIx to the current arena which is a smaller cost. He supported fIxing the current arena. This item would be a $20-30 tax increase. He would like the City to explore more ways to capture revenue during non-ice time. The City has its own facilities to take care of. He would not expect the school district to come to the City and say we need to make an improvement at a school because the City uses it sometimes. He would hope that staffwould approach the school district and say for the hockey program we would like you to agree to a certain number of hours and revenue. Councilmember Donnelly stated if this is approved, it will be a tax increase of $160,000 for the City. He would like to look at this as more of a long term solution to all of the ice needs in Farmington and this does not do it. It keeps ice in Farmington. He felt we can do that. There are vendors that will fIX the ice for $20,000 - $30,000 for a year. He would rather spend $1 million on a long term solution. Even ifwe do this, we still have an ice shortage. In Lakeville, the City and the school district worked together and added a facility that meets their needs far into the future. We have not gotten to a point where we know we can add another sheet at the arena. We do know there is an ice shortage. We want to keep ice in Farmington and we want to solve the ice shortage problem. Ifwe put the ice in a month earlier, maybe we can fmd the leaks and get them fIXed for the fall 16 Council Minutes (Regular) April S, 2010 Page 10 at a substantial savings. Give us time to find the long term solution. He has been involved with the hockey association for 23 years, but he was looking for a long term solution. The school district has no obligation to provide any funds. Ifwe award the contract, the City has to sell bonds and pay for the project. We do not have any idea how much the hockey association wants to contribute. He was an advocate of the hockey and high school programs, but he would like to fmd a middle ground and give us more time to find a permanent, long-term solution. We had a presentation by the Colby Group and we have not heard anything from them, so that is not an option. Mayor Larson stated we are looking at putting $1 million into Schmitz-Maki Arena and we will have a viable arena that will serve the community for 30 years. He understood about the long term future and needing another sheet of ice. We know another sheet of ice will fIt east of the current arena. The soil borings will tell us what we need to do for soil corrections. He felt the area east of the arena was not out of the question. To have an arena for $1.2 million is a bargain. He did not want to abandon this building and build another sheet for $5-6 million. He will support this. We will get 30 years because of the equipment we are putting in it and another arena will fIt next to Schmitz- Maki and allow another 250 - 300 parking stalls. MOTION by Wilson, second by Fogarty to adopt RESOLUTION R23-10 accepting the low bid from Total Mechanical Services in the amount of$808,149 and awarding the project and adopting RESOLUTION R24-10 accepting the low bid from Becker Arena Products in the amount of $1 06,41 0 and awarding the project. Voting for: Larson, Fogarty, Wilson. Voting against: Donnelly, May. MOTION CARRIED. 10. PETITIONS, REQUESTS AND COMMUNICATIONS a) Approve Bond Sale Schmitz-Maid Arena Improvements - Administration Ms. Shelly Eldridge, Ehlers & Assoc, stated Council has Equipment Certificates for 10 years which include a project cost of $1.1 million. In addition there is an underwriter's discount of 1.25%. The estimated cost of issuance is $26,000. The frrst interest payment is due February 1, 2011. With a tax levy, the first collection would be July 2011. The total amount of the certificates is $1,160,000. Equipment Certificates are subject to debt levy, because 100% of the debt service would be put on the property taxes which are subject to 3% of the taxable market value debt limit. The call date is through 2017, which gives three years at the end if the City wants to pre-payor refinance. Ifthe City decides to construct a second sheet of ice, these certificates could be rolled into that project. Ms. Eldridge noted Ehlers looks at the City's bonds every three months. They monitor for any possibility of saving money. The average tax impact on a $100,000 home would be $9.30/year; a $250,000 home about $23/year. These can be reduced by any other funds available from 17 Council Minutes (Regular) April 5, 2010 Page 11 the hockey association and the school district. Ms. Eldridge stated options would be to take the project to a referendum, or a lease purchase with the EDA. This is more expensive as it is not a general obligation and it is not an essential function of the City, so the bond rating would be down one or two notches. The City would need to have a debt service reserve, which would increase the bond itself and the rates would be substantially higher. As this is 100% equipment, we can do it through equipment certificates. MOTION by Fogarty, second by Wilson to adopt RESOLUTION R25-10 providing for the sale of$I,160,000 General Obligation Equipment Certificates, Series 201OD. Voting for: Larson, Fogarty, Wilson. Voting against: Donnelly, May. MOTION CARRIED. b) Approve Hiring Construction Manager for Schmitz-Maki Arena Improvement Project - Parks and Recreation This item was to hire a construction manager for the arena improvement project. Staff is recommending hiring Bonestroo to manage the project as they have completed the plans and specifications and have experience in managing ice improvement projects. The cost is a lump sum fee which would be $20,500 plus $760 for reimbursable costs. Council asked questions regarding charges for on- site visits. Staffwill be managing that. A construction manager is needed because this is a very specific type of construction. We want someone for oversight to ensure the rink will last 30 years. MOTION by Fogarty, second by Wilson to approve the hiring of Bon est roo to provide construction management of the Schmitz-Maki Arena Improvement Project. Voting for: Larson, Fogarty, Wilson. Voting against: Donnelly, May. MOTION CARRIED. c) Reject Bid for Rambling River Center BY AC Project and Authorize Re- Advertisement for Bids - Parks and Recreation Staff received one bid for the HV AC system at the Rambling River Center, but it was not a legal bid. It was not a sealed bid and did not include a 5% bid bond. Staff is recommending rejecting the bid and start over again. Staffwill work on a strategy to encourage more bids. MOTION by Fogarty, second by Wilson to reject the bid received and authorize the re-advertisement of bids for the Rambling River Center's HV AC Project. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. 11. UNFINISHED BUSINESS a) Approve Community Survey Agreement - Parks and Recreation A workshop was held with the Council and the Parks and Recreation Commission on March 22, 2010. Direction at that time was to bring the agreement to Council to hire a consultant to complete a minimum of 400 surveys. The cost will be $10,900. Councilmember May felt the money should be spent on much needed unfunded maintenance of what we already have. We are asking for a tax increase if the survey moves forward and there is indication by a majority that they want a 18 Council Minutes (Regular) April 5, 2010 Page 12 referendum. We are asking the residents for a tax increase in a recession. She felt we need to deal with the maintenance issues of what we have. In the past, the City has not done a good job of setting money aside to take care of what we have. The public needs to understand this will increase maintenance costs and staffmg. She felt we should look at this in 2012. She appreciated the work the Commission has done to study this. Councilmember Wilson has received calls from residents who do not want Council to move forward on this item. The timing is the problem he has. One of the questions is should we move forward with a referendum. We are not in an economic environment where it will have a chance of passing. We need to be careful to time what we want so the community understands. For the amount of money we are spending on the survey, we could do seal coating on the trails. Councilmember Fogarty has received the opposite response from residents. There is information to be gleaned from the survey. It is seeking the public's opinion on a referendum, but also a tool to help us prioritize what we should focus our time on. MOTION by Fogarty, second by Larson to approve an Agreement to hire Leisure Vision to complete a community survey. Voting for: Larson, Donnelly, Fogarty. Voting against: May, Wilson. MOTION CARRIED. 12. NEW BUSINESS 13. COUNCIL ROUNDTABLE a) Weed Mowing Protocol- Administration City Administrator Herlofsky provided a copy of the weed ordinance for Council's information. Any platted lot within the City that is undeveloped and does not share a common property line with any developed lots which contain a principal structure, may be left in a natural state. A discussion followed regarding a fee for a violation and the process for notification. Staffwill address violations on a complaint basis. b) Summer Hours - Human Resources During the last five years in the summer, City Hall has expanded hours Monday - Thursday and shortened hours on Friday. The benefIt to the community is for residents to do business at City Hall without having to take time offwork. Hours Monday - Thursday would be 7:00 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. and Friday 7:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. Councilmember May did not agree with it. She felt the hours should be consistent. Creating opportunities for the public could be done by staggering staff if only a couple people are needed. It is more important to keep consistent hours. Human Resources Director Wendlandt explained hours remain the same at the 19 Council Minutes (Regular) AprilS, 2010 Page 13 other City buildings. Councilmember May stated that is another reason; the only building affected is City Hall. Stagger the hours if it provides better customer service during the summer, but otherwise she did not see a real purpose for doing that. Councilmember Wilson stated he has been in favor of this in the past. He would not support it this year. For 95% of the people this would be a great deal because you get out at noon on Fridays. For other employees, they may not enjoy working a longer day. He suggested working with the staff and create flex hours. Closing City Hall at 4:30 p.rn. should be the norm throughout the year. Mayor Larson has heard from contractors in past years that they like coming in at 7:00 a.m. to take care of their business. He has also heard residents like to come in at 5:00 p.m. without having to take offwork. He felt we serve the residents and contractors better by opening early and staying later. Councilmember Fogarty has heard contractors like the 7:00 a.rn. She was aware there have been issues with employees who do not want to work longer days, but that has been worked out. Last year we asked everyone to take a furlough and it is nice to give something back to the employees when we can. Councilmember Donnelly suggested changing the City hours in general. This has been past practice and is what employees expect. Councilmember May felt the contractors can still get their business done and it sounds more like an employee benefit. This is not the venue to discuss employee benefits. She felt there should be consistent hours. Councilmember Donnelly did not understand the comment about this not being the right venue. Councilmember May stated ifwe are talking about employee benefits, it should be when we are discussing their contracts if they want to see this as a benefit. Councilmember May was not sure ifwe are talking about an employee benefit or a contractor that wants to come in at 7:00 a.m. Councilmember Fogarty stated it is both. Councilmember Donnelly stated the employees probably like this and it is a little payback for last year. We could do it this year, but set the expectation this will not happen in the future. It is a thank you for their sacrifices oflast year. Going forward we should not offer this for next summer. City Administrator Herlofsky stated most of the comments from staff are positive and that is what they hear from the residents. This is not discussing an employee benefit. He would not want to negotiate this as an employee benefit, because then it is in the contract. Right now we have employment agreements that specify a certain number of hours per week. What we are discussing with Council is do we want to alter the convenience to our customers. If the by-product is something that is positive for the employees, that is all the better. MOTION by Fogarty, second by Donnelly to approve the summer hour schedule for City Hall. Voting 20 Council Minutes (Regular) AprilS, 2010 Page 14 for: Larson, Fogarty, Donnelly. Voting against: May, Wilson. MOTION CARRIED. c) Agenda Format Comments -Administration The format for Council agendas has changed. We also now have electronic Council agendas. Council receives the packet electronically on Thursday, and the entire packet is placed on the City's website at noon on Fridays. Councilmember Wilson noted large documents do take a lot oftime to upload. Staffhas determined that is a result ofphotos that may be provided, so staffwill watch the content. Councilmember Fogarty: April 10, Dakota Electric will have the Annual Food Drive. The food shelf receives a great deal of donations around the holidays, but the big demand time is during the summer. She asked residents to give generously to the food shelf. Mayor Larson: April 24, curbside clean-up days start. Check the calendar and the City website for the correct day for your pick-up. He urged residents to support Farmington businesses. 14. ADJOURN MOTION by Fogarty, second by Wilson to adjourn at 9:36 p.m. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. Respectfully submitted, Cynthia Muller Executive Assistant 21