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HomeMy WebLinkAboutDraft November 16, 2009 Meeting Minutes City Council Meeting Minutes November 16, 2009 DRAFT CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at 6 pm. Present were Mayor Haugen, Councilors Erickson, Hedberg, Le- Mair and Millar, City Manager Boyles, City Attorney Pace, Public Works Director/City Engineer Albrecht, Finance Director Erickson, Building and Transportation Services Director Kansier, Community Develop- ment and Natural Resources Director Parr, Police Chief O'Rourke, Assistant City Manager Meyer, Com- munications Coordinator Peterson and Administrative Assistant Green. PUBLIC FORUM The Public Forum is intended to afford the public an opportunity to address concerns to the City Council. It will be no longer than 30 minutes in length and each presenter will have no more than ten (10) minutes to speak. Items to be considered on the agenda may be addressed at the Public Forum unless they have been or will be the subject of a public hearing or public information hearing at the City Council, the Eco- nomic Development Authority (EDA), the Planning Commission, or any other City Advisory Committee within the foreseeable future. Forum items are also restricted to City governmental topics rather than as a platform for private agendas. Matters that are the subject of pending litigation are not appropriate for the Public Forum. The City Council will not take formal action on Public Forum presentations. City Manager Boyles explained the concept of the Public Forum. Comments: No person stepped forward to speak. APPROVAL OF AGENDA MOTION BY ERICKSON, SECONDED BY MILLAR TO APPROVE THE AGENDA AS PRESENTED. VOTE: Ayes by Haugen, Erickson, Hedberg, LeMair and Millar. The motion carried. APPROVAL OF MEETING MINUTES MOTION BY HEDBERG, SECONDED BY MILLAR TO APPROVE THE NOVEMBER 2, 2009, MEETING MINUTES AS PRESENTED. VOTE: Ayes by Haugen, Erickson, Hedberg LeMair and Millar. The motion carried. MOTION BY LEMAIR, SECONDED BY HEDBERG TO APPROVE THE NOVEMBER 9, 2009, MEETING MINUTES AS MODIFIED. VOTE: Ayes by Haugen, Erickson, Hedberg and LeMair. The motion carried. Millar abstained due to his absence at the meeting. CONSENT AGENDA City Manager Boyles reviewed the items on the consent agenda. A. Consider Approval of Invoices to be Paid B. Consider Approval of Treasurer's Report. C. Consider Approval of Building Permit Report. www.cityofpriorlake.com Phone 952.447.9800 / Fax 952.447.4245 City Council Meeting Minutes November 16, 2009 DRAFT D. Consider Approval of Animal Warden Report. E. Consider Approval of Fire Call Report. F. Consider Approval of both Resolution 09-153 Extending the Deadline for a Final Planned Unit Devel- opment Contract and Resolution 09-154 Extending the Deadline for Submitting a Final Plat for Sum- mit Preserve Until June 18, 2010. G. Consider Approval of a Massage Therapy License for Kaia Kraml. H. Consider Approval Of Resolution 09-159 Establishing Findings Of Fact Establishing Findings Of Fact Which Would Confirm Revocation Of The Liquor License For O'Malley's On Main in the Event of Non- Payment Of Real Estate Taxes For The Period November 16,2009 To June 30,2010. Consider Approval of Resolution 09-155 Approving the Common Interest Community # 1192 (Boudin Crossings Commercial Condominium) CIC Plat. Mayor Haugen requested the removal of item 5H. MOTION BY LEMAIR, SECONDED BY MILLAR TO APPROVE THE CONSENT AGENDA AS MODIFIED. VOTE: Ayes by Haugen, Erickson, Hedberg, LeMair and Millar. The motion carried. Haugen: Commented that the property taxes were paid before 10 a.m. on November 14,2009, as pro- scribed in the direction provided at the November 2, 2009, City Council meeting so the on-sale liquor li- cense will not be revoked and O'Malley's is still doing business. Approval of the resolution will confirm the findings of fact. leMair: Confirmed that Mr. Yeo met the expectations set by the Council so the business can continue to operate with a liquor license. MOTION BY MILLAR, SECONDED BY LEMAIR TO APPROVE RESOLUTION 09-159 ESTABLISHING FINDINGS OF FACT ESTABLISHING FINDINGS OF FACT WHICH WOULD CONFIRM REVOCATION OF THE LIQUOR LICENSE FOR O'MALLEY'S ON MAIN IN THE EVENT OF NON-PAYMENT OF REAL ESTATE TAXES FOR THE PERIOD NOVEMBER 16, 2009 TO JUNE 30, 2010. VOTE: Ayes by Haugen, Erickson, Hedberg, LeMair and Millar. The motion carried. PRESENTATION No presentation was scheduled. PUBLIC HEARING No public hearing was scheduled. OLD BUSINESS Consider Approval of a Report Regarding the Massage Therapy Ordinance. Police Chief O'Rourke recalled that Drs. Westie and Moore of Kes Chiropractic addressed the Council at the August 3, 2009 public forum requesting the City to consider requiring background checks and licensure for all massage therapists operating in the City. O'Rourke reviewed State Statute and City Code that states massage therapists are not required to undergo background checks by the City. Explained how the code applies to the person that Drs. Westie and Moore expressed concern about. Stated that the City's Com- munity Safety Advisory Committee reviewed this topic and recommended that background investigations be required by employers when hiring individuals who will be in contact with vulnerable persons. A bro- chure explaining background checks and encouraging their use by employers has been developed by the Community Safety Advisory Committee. 2 City Council Meeting Minutes November 16, 2009 DRAFT Comments: leMair: Thanked O'Rourke for the background information provided. Erickson: Commented that the report mentioned that the person of concern would not have had a convic- tion show up on a background check and suggested that if a person consents to a background check, past charges can be searched as well as convictions. O'Rourke: Affirmed, adding that the second form of background checks has an associated fee. Sug- gested that a potential employee could be checked on "Google" and information may show up since arrest data is public information. Millar: Asked if any of the medical professionals are required to have background checks. O'Rourke: Generally no, although there are some specific job categories that require it. Millar: Asked if the City can require background check for certain professionals, O'Rourke: Replied that schools are mandated to do so for some professionals and it is mandatory for po- lice officers. Pace: Added that individuals would need to be told that it is part of the employment practices of a munici- pality. Hedberg: Asked why the City cannot establish specific actions for employment. Pace: Replied that statutory cities only have the amount of authority that is set out in state statute. The State Statute says clearly that a municipality may not require a background check for this licensure. The privilege to conduct that profession is not a decision that the City should properly become involved in. Hedberg: Asked if the City, by ordinance, requires background checks for certain types of jobs for busi- nesses that operate here where the employees are exposed to people in vulnerable situations. Pace: Replied she will research that but believes the answer is no. Hedberg: Believes the Community Safety Advisory Committee hopes the City could do more proscriptive things rather than just provide advisory capacities. MOTION BY HEDBERG, SECONDED BY LEMAIR TO APPROVE THE REPORT. VOTE: Ayes by Haugen, Erickson, Hedberg, LeMair and Millar. The motion carried. MOTION BY HEDBERG, SECONDED BY MILLAR TO DIRECT STAFF TO RESEARCH WHETHER THE CITY CAN POSE RESTRICTIONS AND BACKGROUND CHECKS ON REQUIREMENTS OF CERTAIN PROFESSIONS. VOTE: Ayes by Haugen, Erickson, Hedberg, LeMair and Millar. The motion carried. Consider Approval of a Resolution Accepting Bids and Approving the City's Standardized Con- struction Contract for the McKenna Rd I CR 42 Intersection Signal Construction. Public Works Director Albrecht informed the Council that this project should be awarded in a timely fash- ion to secure stimulus funds even though construction is planned for 2010. Six bids were received for the construction phase. The total project is anticipated to be $63,000 below original estimates and the City will have some savings to be determined after a final review of the federal funding. Comments: Erickson: Thanked staff for working to acquire stimulus monies. Noted that the intersection signal will benefit the new YMCA, Shepherd of the Lake, McKenna Crossing, and the BlueXpress transit line. leMair: Asked if this project is in the 2009 budget. 3 City Council Meeting Minutes November 16, 2009 DRAFT Albrecht: Replied that it is included in the 2010 Capital Improvement Program and was advanced to ob- tain the stimulus funding. Explained the funding sources adding that the City does not know when the stimulus funds will arrive. leMair: Asked if there will be opportunity to reduce the 2010 budget by the estimated $40,000 to be saved. Albrecht: Replied that it is possible, but noted that some of the costs of the project are not eligible for ei- ther the federal stimulus funds or state aid funds. Hedberg: Asked how it will be determined whether the savings is gained with reconstruction monies or state aid funds. Albrecht: Replied that the federal and state governments will determine which costs are eligible from their funding and the City will pay the remainder. Hedberg: Commented that the intersection signal is greatly needed and the stimulus funds made it possi- ble. Millar: Added that it is good to see some of the stimulus money trickle down to municipal levels. Albrecht: Noted that the City will know in a couple of weeks what its cost share will be and a future agenda item will be brought to the Council to approve funding sources. Haugen: Commented that the Wilds neighborhood and the SMSC contribute traffic to that intersection as well as the cars traveling east and west on CR 42. MOTION BY HEDBERG, SECONDED BY ERICKSON TO APPROVE RESOLUTION 09-156 ACCEPTING BIDS AND AUTHORIZING EXECUTION OF THEY CITY'S STANDARDIZED CONSTRUCTION CONTRACT FOR THE CR 42 AND MCKENNA ROAD INTERSECTION SIGNAL PROJECT SAP 201-118- 001, SAP 70-642-21, MNPN ES10ES (040). VOTE: Ayes by Haugen, Erickson, Hedberg, LeMair and Millar. The motion carried. Consider Approval of a Resolution Amending the 2009 Water and Sewer Fund Budget. Public Works Director Albrecht reviewed the history of the failure of the watermain pipe beneath CR 21 and expenditures connected to it. Believes it is important to provide transparency in the expenditures for this project and is requesting an amendment of the budget so costs are not taken from the General Fund. Commented that sewer and water charges pay for the maintenance of the water infrastructure. Reviewed costs for this project. Stated that acquiring permanent easements allowed the watermain to be moved from the County right-of-way to its permanent location. Comments: Hedberg: Expressed appreciation to staff for the long hours they put in making repairs to the pipe when it failed last winter. Asked how long this pipe is expected to last and queried about the construction process. Albrecht: Explained that the type of soils caused early degradation of the old pipe, spoke of the materials used in the new pipe that do not react negatively to the types of soils it is placed in. It will have a 100-year life expectancy. Hedberg: Commented on the length of piping and its relocation to be outside the right-of-way and away from the bridge. Noted the bridge was replaced approximately 20 years ago and questioned its life expec- tancy. Albrecht: Added that issues with the bridge are not related to life, but rather to traffic volume. Stated it is the bottleneck for traffic flow on CR 21 and also presents a safety hazard for pedestrians. The CR 21 Cor- ridor Study identified improvements to the bridge within a 20-year timeframe. Hedberg: Proposed that the recommendation for improving the bridge will come sooner as traffic is in- creasing so quickly. Commented on the importance of the reserve in the sewer and water fund noting that 4 City Council Meeting Minutes November 16, 2009 DRAFT this repair was an emergency and the City not only needed to take care of it, but look into the future to make the right decision. If there had been no reserves the project could not have been done without a ref- erendum or extraordinary bonding. Stated the City has been significantly growing its infrastructure and there will be more situations that may be emergencies. Pleased with work of staff on this project. Millar: Clarified that the purpose of amending the budget is to detail costs for auditing. Albrecht: Affirmed it is desired to have the current budget reflect actual costs and the funds that are being used to assure the City is following proper accounting and budgeting processes. Erickson: Believes the City residents are happy to have the project complete and CR 21 open for travel again. leMair: Queried about the City's costs for the repairs made last winter and whether those costs were less than anticipated. Albrecht: Replied the $13,000 shown is for materials cost and it was not proposed to amend the budget for staff time as most of the people working on this project are in the sewer and water fund. leMair: Concurred this project needed to be done, the City chose to do it now rather than delaying it and good pricing was received to do it. Haugen: Echoed the value of having appropriate reserves in these funds in order to be able to take care of such emergencies when necessary stating it reflects good fiscal management. MOTION BY LEMAIR, SECONDED BY MILLAR TO APPROVE RESOLUTION 09-157 AMENDING THE 2009 WATER AND SEWER FUND BUDGET TO INCLUDE THE CR 21 EMERGENCY REPAIR AND WATERMAIN REPLACEMENT. VOTE: Ayes by Haugen, Erickson, Hedberg, LeMair and Millar. The motion carried. NEW BUSINESS Consider Approval of a Report Identifying Sewer and Water Rate Issues and a Resolution Authoriz- ing the Segregation of the Metropolitan Council Environmental Services (MCES) Charge from the City's Sewer Rate. Public Works Director Albrecht provided statistics of the sewer and water infrastructure. Stated that it is a goal to develop a long-term plan to allow rate stability by identifying funding and budgeting the water and sewer infrastructure that correlates to our Capital Improvement Plan and is annually reviewed and adopted by the Council. Stated that sewage is not treated in Prior Lake but rather by the Metropolitan Council (MCES) and the City is billed for that. Explained that the MCES uses cities' 2030 comprehensive plans to anticipate needed ca- pacity and build accordingly and that, historically, has received monies from the Sewer Access Charge (SAC) tied to building construction. With the reduced economy, the MCES has used fund reserves to off- set their shortfall from reduced building permits which is not sustainable for them. They have recalculated municipal wastewater charges and are increasing overall rates by 3.8%, The Prior Lake rate is increased by approximately 13% for an approximate $100,000 increase in 2010, which cannot be absorbed by the City without depleting fund reserves. Proposed that the MCES rate be segregated from City water use rates on billings to identify to residents that it is a cost that is being passed along rather than generated by the City. Commented on reserves in the water fund. Believes that the sewer and water revenue funds should be separated in the budget to provide transparency and to track rates. 5 City Council Meeting Minutes November 16, 2009 DRAFT Suggested that minimum fund balances should be identified and established in order to consider what is needed to accumulate a fund balance. Comments: Erickson: Concurred that the charges from the MCES should be separated from the water use charges of the City. Asked how having an emergency fund balance would affect our bond rating. J. Erickson: Replied there would be multiple components of a fund balance such as operating funds vs. emergency repairs. The Moody's rating will indicate whether or not the City has sufficient fund balances and it will affect our rating. Erickson: Since the clay soils decay our pipelines faster than expected, asked if we know what amount of funds might be needed to replace pipes prematurely. Albrecht: Replied that the majority of the City's water system is reaching its 3D-year life span and will be arriving at a period of replacing piping that was installed in the 1970s. Expect to be able to project the needs so there are not unpleasant surprises. Erickson: Questioned how the City would adjust for unforeseen changes in the economy and value of the dollar when developing a 20-year schedule. Albrecht: Replied that the Council reviews the planning documents annually and adjustments are made when needed to minimize such impacts. Millar: Agreed that the MCES and City rates should be segregated to lend transparency to the process and allow the public to know what the City can control. Asked how appropriate amounts for minimum and maximum fund reserves would be determined, Albrecht: Replied the maximum amount would be calculated to ensure that rates are not increased too soon and allow too much of a reserve to build up. Historically, the City's utility billing has gone through peaks and valleys and the goal would be to stabilize it. J. Erickson: Added that a minimum reserve amount might be associated with the operation and mainte- nance of the system factoring in a contingency plan for emergencies that might come up. Stated that bond rating agencies like having plans in place rather than reaction to emergencies and will rate more favorably when a long term plan is in place. Hedberg: Queried about the volume of sewage sent to MCES for treatment. Albrecht: Replied the volume includes infiltration and inflow which is why the City sliplines pipes to avoid infiltration. Hedberg: Commented that the sewer and water functions serve different needs and have different struc- tures so it is appropriate to split out the two funds. Stated he looks forward to having a long-term plan to evaluate the needs for minimum and maximum reserve limits adding there will always be unpleasant sur- prises or new technologies to implement, but if the City has a long-term funding plan it will provide a base line from which to evaluate what has changed in the environment and the City won't be caught with insuffi- cient funding to take care of infrastructure. leMair: Commented that the City will pay for the sewage whether it is transferred or not and questioned what would happen if we refused to pay. Asked whether the SMSC could accommodate the City's sewer needs. Albrecht: Replied that the SMSC cannot accommodate this amount and the City would need to upgrade some of the infrastructure. Believes there are some statutory issues and the MCES has made investments to provide this service and we would have to deal with that. leMair: Commented that the percentage of increase for Prior Lake is higher than some other cities and asked if we could question the fairness of it. Albrecht: Replied that Prior Lake is similar to most of the cities in the metro area, Some of the larger, fully developed cities are not adding units and have a smaller increase. Cities that are growing have 6 City Council Meeting Minutes November 16, 2009 DRAFT higher rate increases because of more units being brought in. Commented that the Metropolitan Council does not provide a forum for voting on their decisions. Haugen: Reinforced that segregating the water and sewer rates makes sense as sewer is a pass through cost. Believes in developing a long-term plan and anticipating expenditures long-term and setting aside money now for the future. Stated that establishing minimum and maximum fund balance reserves is a criti- cal element and makes for good fiscal responsibility. Stated that the City's long-term planning has been recognized by our bond rating company and is reflected in our bond rating. MOTION BY LEMAIR, SECONDED BY MILLAR TO APPROVE RESOLUTION 09-158 AUTHORIZING THE SEGREGATION OF THE METROPOLITAN COUNCIL ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES (MCES) CHARGE FROM THE CITY SEWER RATE. VOTE: Ayes by Haugen, Erickson, Hedberg, LeMair and Millar. The motion carried. OTHER Community Events leMair: Congratulated the girls cross country team for its successes. Youth wrestling camp starts tomor- row. Millar: Extended a Happy Thanksgiving greeting to all. Haugen: Stated a reception will be held December 21 to recognize retiring advisory committee members, council member LeMair and himself. Addressed Mr. Yeo in the audience to state that his payment of taxes was recognized and the liquor license was not revoked. Wished him success. ADJOURNMENT With no further comments from Council members, a motion to adjourn was made by LeMair and seconded by Millar. With all in favor, the meeting adjourned at 7:25 p.m, Frank Boyles, City Manager Charlotte Green, Administrative Asst. 7