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HomeMy WebLinkAbout05.17.10 Council Minutes 7a- COUNCIL MINUTES REGULAR May 17, 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, Fogarty, Wilson Donnelly, May 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 Beve Preece, Tom Jensen, Shelly Eldridge, Glen Anderson, Cheryl Retterath, Ed & Michele Samuelson, Cindy & Ben Raynor, Vida Raine, Terry Stapf: Tom Jensen, Colin Garvey 4. APPROVE AGENDA Councilmember Wilson pulled item 7f) Authorize Encroachment Agreement with Tom Wartman (Farmington City Center LLC) for discussion. MOTION by Fogarty, second by Wilson to approve the Agenda. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. 5. ANNOUNCEMENTS a) Farmington Heart Restart Program - Glen Anderson The purpose of the Farmington Heart Restart Program is to promote awareness of sudden cardiac arrest. Basic training is provided by a CPR training kit. An open house will be held on May 27,2010, at City Hall. b) Soybean Festival- Vida Raine The Soybean Festival will be held May 20-23,2010, downtown. There will be bands, a green builders expo, health expo, sustainable foods expo, a parade, etc. c) Heritage Preservation Awards - Dave McMillen/John Franceschelli Cynthia Raynor received a Heritage Preservation Award for restoring the home at 421 Oak Street. Edgar Samuelson received a Heritage Preservation Award for his efforts in historic preservation. 6. CITIZEN COMMENTS Tom Jensen, 701 5th Street, stated a month ago he spoke to Council regarding communication with the citizens. Council had stated they would have a workshop regarding replacing the trees on 5th and 6th Streets and Walnut Street. The residents have 7 Council Minutes (Regular) May 17, 2010 Page 2 not received any communication on Council's decision. Mayor Larson noted staff is working on a process. Council directed staff to schedule a workshop to discuss trees. a) Response to Mr. Colin Garvey - Administration Mr. Colin Garvey, 22098 Canton Court, stated several months ago a process was started for the ice arena. The Task Force was hand picked; no one had a chance to be on it. We went from fIxing the rink, to having fund raisers, to building two rinks somewhere else. The whole process was to :fix a rink that has been here for 30 years. Councilmember Fogarty had requested to save as much money as possible. Staff was given direction to look at volunteer help. It should have been a line item bid. He heard from Bonestroo they could not take volunteer help because it was a union contract. They said 8xlO ft. slabs would be removed; that did not happen. They subbed out removal of the concrete to a non-union contractor from Wisconsin. There is no communication. Someone gets off on a personal agenda and it gets eliminated. It was fmally announced we can have a second rink at the current location. No one even talked to the extension office. We can even have 250 parking spaces in that location. Councilmember Fogarty stated the flood plain changed. Mr. Garvey felt we have added a lot of cost to the project. We received a two year warranty; Bumsville has a five year warranty. The night Council voted on the bond, there was still no communication from the Hockey Association. Mayor Larson stated they will bring a proposal to the next meeting regarding assistance. As far as Mr. Garvey's bonding questions, he will be requesting more information. Regarding the storm water runoff fee increase, it does not need to be that high. In 2007 there was $752,000 in expenditures taken from the fund. Mr. Garvey asked staffhow many houses there were, he was told 7500. Based on a document from the City there are 6,016 houses. He asked how many houses we have in Farmington. Staff noted there are houses and townhouses. Mr. Garvey asked why we have so much money in the fund and why are we charging so much. Finance Director Walters stated the fund will be reviewed during the budget process. Mr. Garvey asked what the $752,000 was for. Staffwill research this and respond. Mr. Garvey stated on the utility fund report, he asked if there was a separate fund for what developers pay. The report he received shows only what residents put in the fund. Mr. Garvey also asked for a copy ofthe bond payments for all the contracts. Councilmember Wilson stated he did not recall conversations pertaining to union contracts. It was pointed out that the contract did not allow for volunteer labor. 7. CONSENT AGENDA MOTION by Fogarty, second by Wilson to approve the Consent Agenda as follows: a) Approved Council Minutes (5/3/10 Regular) (5/10/10 Workshop) b) Received Information School and Conference - Police Department c) Adopted RESOLUTION R3t-tO Accepting 2010 Arbor Day Donation - Parks and Recreation d) Approved Request to Waive Fees - Administration 8 Council Minutes (Regular) May 17, 2010 Page 3 e) Approved Temporary On-Sale Liquor Licenses - Administration g) Received Information April 2010 Financial Report - Finance h) Approved Bills APIF, MOTION CARRIED. t) Authorize Encroachment Agreement with Tom Wartman (Farmington City Center LLC) - Planning Councilmember Wilson was concerned with the location of the play area being next to the railroad tracks. City Administrator Herlofsky stated there will be a daycare located in the north end of the City Center building closest to the railroad tracks. The area will be fenced in. If the City needs to access the area, the fence will be removed. The situation is similar to Anna Banana's as far as the right-of- way. Councilmember Fogarty agreed the right-of-way is similar, but at Anna Banana's all of the play areas come directly off the building. This play area is dislodged from the building by a driveway. She asked if the encroachment in the right-of- way was our only concern. She was not concerned with the encroachment, so she will approve it, but wanted more information on the logistics of how the children are getting from the building to the play area. Councilmember Wilson asked if the area could be fenced from the building to the play area. Staff stated it would depend on the use of the driveway access. If it has to do with emergency it would have to remain open. Councilmember Wilson asked if there was discussion with Mr. Wartman and the owner about purchasing property north of the building. City Administrator Herlofsky noted this location required the least amount of remodeling. It was a business decision by the owner. Mayor Larson noted the Planning Commission did approve it. Staffwas supportive ofa new business, and ifthis was successfu~ it may be incentive to move to a different location. MOTION by Wilson, second by Fogarty to approve the Encroachment Agreement. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. 8. PUBLIC HEARINGS a) Approve On-Sale Liquor License Blondies Tavern - Administration Mr. Jeffery Schlichter requested an On-Sale Liquor license and a Sunday Liquor license for Blondie's Tavern, 20700 Chippendale Avenue. MOTION by Fogarty, second by Wilson 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 Blondie's Tavern at 20700 Chippendale Avenue. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. 9. AWARD OF CONTRACT a) Award Rambling River Center HV AC Contract - Parks and Recreation One bid was received from Lofgren Heating and Air Conditioning, Apple Valley, in the amount of $63,900. This included alternate #4 - removing the existing furnace. The estimate was $100,402. There is $65,000 available in CDBG funding to pay for this project. The remaining $1,100 will be applied toward the design cost. As far as screening the unit on the roof, this building is grandfathered in, so screening is not required. The unit will be placed in the middle of the building so it will not show from Oak Street. MOTION by 9 Council Minutes (Regular) May 17, 2010 Page 4 Fogarty, second by Wilson to adopt RESOLUTION R34-10 accepting the low bid, which includes the base bid and Alternate #4 in the amount of$63,900 and awarding the contract to Lofgren Heating and Air Conditioning for the Rambling River Center's HV AC project. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. 10. PETITIONS, REQUESTS AND COMMUNICATIONS 11. UNFINISHED BUSINESS a) Amend 2010 Fee Schedule to Include Development Fees - Engineering This item was discussed at the March workshop where Council decided to go with option 2. Option 2 was to phase in the low dep.sity residential in 2010, and high density residential and the commercial/industrial beginning in 2013. Option 1 was to begin phasing in all categories in 2010. Mr. Colin Garvey, stated in today's economics it makes no sense to raise fees. The cost for developing is already very high. In looking at the funds, raising fees is making it harder to build here. Staff stated every ten years the comprehensive plan is reviewed and staff looks at projections for storm water fees. When that was done this year, staff realized funds to cover future costs for build out would run out. To cover the future costs, storm water fees need to be increased. Mr. Garvey stated most of the infrastructure is in already. As new developments come in, those developers will pay for the infrastructure. As far as the Seed property, no fees were required and no oversizing of pipe was required. There is no reason to raise fees. You will not get people to build here. There are enough lots left to develop for quite a few years. Let the lots we have now fill in. Councilmember Fogarty stated we are using a total build out cost. We are talking 50 years down the road, having to raise the levy to pay the cost for development. The philosophy has been development pays for itself. No one on Council was comfortable with not having development pay for itself. Mr. Garvey stated there is not enough property left to go out that far. City Engineer Schorzman stated Mr. Garvey is correct when development comes in and there is a need for oversizing, the developers put that in. However, they receive credit, and sometimes more than what their fees are for storm water. When the last acre in Farmington develops, the storm water fund will be zero. City Administrator Herlofsky stated if fees are not collected upfront, it will be too expensive to develop. Mr. Garvey stated the east side has all the piping in place. The Seed property does not need to have oversized pipe. The piping along Flagstaff has been oversized. He did not understand the reasoning for collecting fees for oversizing pipe in the future. The piping is in place. Councilmember Wilson did not have a concern that the fees are increasing as they are also going up in other communities. Because of the geographic amenities we have to pay higher fees to meet the MPCA standards. It puts Farmington in an uncompetitive situation. He was concerned to put fees in place without a bigger picture of why regulatory agencies have to charge us 35% more to develop here because of our geography. There are factors outside the City's control that are influencing these dollars. He needs to understand why we are being forced to develop in a way that costs more money to develop here. 10 Council Minutes (Regular) May 17, 2010 Page 5 Mayor Larson stated it costs us more to develop because of the regulations from the State because of the Vermillion River. He felt staff should explore if the agencies will contribute to help offset these fees. Councilmember Fogarty stated this is an unfunded mandate. The Vermillion River is a huge asset to the City, but not so much that it offsets the costs of these fees. Staff felt the City would not be able to get assistance to reduce development costs. You get assistance for projects such as meandering North Creek. Mr. Colin Garvey stated the developer of Vermillion River Crossing did put in the ponding required. Imagine increasing the fees on top of that. Mr. Garvey suggested putting in bigger storm water ponds and having fewer lots rather than increasing fees. Mayor Larson stated our ponds are already bigger because of the Vermillion River. City Administrator Herlofsky stated storm water ponds also have problems with requirements for special maintenance. Councilmember Fogarty suggested waiting for a full Council. Instead of having a workshop, Councilmembers will talk with City Engineer Schorzman over the next few weeks and staffwill research available assistance. MOTION by Fogarty, second by Wilson to table this item to the June 21,2010, Council meeting to allow Councilmembers time to talk with City Engineer Schorzman. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. b) Adopt Resolution - Approve Sale of General Obligation Street Reconstruction Bonds 2010C and General Obligation Equipment Certificates 2010D - Finance The bonds for the Walnut Street Reconstruction project along with the equipment certificates for the Ice Arena improvements were sold today. Ms. Shelly Eldridge, Ehlers & Associates, presented this item to Council. Standard & Poor's did affIrm the City's AA- rating. Four bids were received. The lowest bid was 3.4%. The estimated amount was 3.617%. This was for the Walnut Street reconstruction bond which is for 16 years. Four bids were received for the Equipment Certificates for the Ice Arena improvements. The low interest rate is 2.6471 %. The estimated amount was 3.19%. This is a nine year certificate. MOTION by Fogarty, second by Wilson to adopt RESOLUTION R32-10 awarding the sale of the $2,470,000 General Obligation Street Reconstruction Bonds, Series 2010C and RESOLUTION R33-10 awarding the sale of $1,160,000 General Obligation Equipment Certificates, Series 2010D to the lowest bidders within the terms and information provided by Ehlers. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. 12. NEW BUSINESS 13. COUNCIL ROUNDTABLE a) Set Budget Workshop - Tuesday, June 1,2010 Council agreed with setting the workshop for June 1,2010, at 5:30 p.m. 11 Council Minutes (Regular) May 17, 2010 Page 6 b) Allina Presentation Allina will make a presentation at the June 7, 2010, Council meeting. The City will receive a disbursement of$11,500. A redesigned ambulance will also be available for viewing. Councilmember Wilson: He attended the National Day of Prayer event. He stated a number of the Farmington Pastors get together and go to businesses to pray for their success. He thanked Senator Pariseau and Representative Garofalo for their work to get a Deputy Registrar Office in Farmington. Staffwill be working on getting that set up. Councilmember Fogarty: Celts Pub will be having a 2nd Annual Bike Run. The Farmington location will be showcased. The money goes to the three day cancer walk. Celts Pub does a great deal of charity work. This will be June 12, 2010. At the last Council meeting she meant to mention it was Police Week last week. At the D.C. capital there is a monument to police officers who have perished in the line of duty. She thanked all the Police Officers for their work. Mayor Larson: The Soybean Festival will be held May 20-23,2010. He attended the ribbon cutting for the new location of the food shelf at the Instructional Services Center. He urged residents to support the food shelf. Military Family Day is May 22,2010, at the Fairgrounds. There are a number of free events for military families. He urged residents to support Farmington businesses. 14. ADJOURN MOTION by Fogarty, second by Wilson to adjourn at 8:39 p.m. APIF, MOTION CARRIED. Respectfully submitted, Cynthia Muller Executive Assistant 12