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HomeMy WebLinkAboutdraft 04 22 13 City Council minutes O� p ���P � � v �' 4646 Dakota Street SE Prior Lake, MN 55372 ` � t NNESO� P REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES April 22, 2013 CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m. Present were Mayor Hedberg, Councilors Keeney, McGuire, Morton and Soukup, City Manager Boyles, City Attorney Rosow, City Engineer / Inspec- tions Director Poppler, Code Enforcement Officer Stefanisko, Public Works / Natural Resources Director Gehler, Maintenance Supervisor Theisen, Community and Economic Development Direc- tor Rogness, Assistant City Manager Kansier, Assistant City Manager Meyer and Administrative Assistant Green. PUBLIC FORUM The Public Forum is intended to afford the public an opportunity to address concerns to the City Council. The Public Forum will be no longer than 30 minutes in length and each presenter will have no more than ten (10) minutes to speak. Topics of discussion are restricted to City govern- mental topics rather than private or political agendas. Topics may be addressed at the Public Fo- rum that are on the agenda except those topics that have been or are the subject of a scheduled public hearing or public information hearing before the City Council, the Economic Development Authority (EDA), Planning Commission, or any other City Advisory Committee. The City Council may discuss but will not take formal action on Public Forum presentations. Matters that are the subject of pending litigation are not appropriate for the Forum. Comments: No person stepped forward to speak. APPROVAL OF AGENDA City Manager Boyles recommended that presentation items 7A, Report on Code Enforcement and 7B, YMCA Healthy Kids Day Proclamation be delivered in reverse order to accommodate members of the public in attendance. MOTION BY KEENEY, SECOND BY MCGUIRE TO APPROVE THE AGENDA AMENDED AS RECOMMENDED. VOTE: Ayes by Hedberg, Keeney, McGuire, Morton and Soukup. The motion carried. APPROVAL OF MEETING MINUTES MOTION BY MORTON, SECOND BY MCGUIRE TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF THE APRIL 8, 2013 CITY COUNCIL MEETING. VOTE: Ayes by Hedberg, Keeney, McGuire and Morton. Soukup abstained due to her absence at the meeting. The motion carried. CONSENT AGENDA City Manager Boyles reviewed the items on the consent agenda. A. Consider Approval of Claims Listing B. Consider Approval of Treasurers Report C. Consider Approval of Building Permit Summary Report D. Consider Approval of Animal Control Services Report E. Consider Approval of Fire Department Report Phone 952.447.9800 / Fax 952.447.4245 / www.cityofpriorlake.com F. Consider Approval of Police Department Report G. Consider Approval of Resolution 13-048 Approving a Contract for Animal Control Ser- vices for 2013-2016 and Authorizing the Mayor and City Manager to Enter into an Agree- ment with 4 Paws Animal Control LLC for Animal Control Services Therefore H. Consider Approval of Resolutions with Respect to the County Road 12 and Sunset Ave- nue Improvement Projects: 1) Resolution 13-049 Accepting Proposals and Authorizing WSB to Provide Construction Staking, and 2) Resolution 13-050 Accepting Proposals and Authorizing Element Materials Technology to Provide Construction Testing I. Consider Approval of Language in Accordance with the Requirements Set Forth in MN Stat. 471.701 Related to Posting of Base Salaries J. Consider Approval of Resolution 13-051 Requesting Funding from MnDOT through the Corridor Investment Management Strategy Pilot Solicitation (CIMS) for the Trunk Highway 13 / CSAH 21 / Main Avenue Improvement Project K. Consider Approval of Resolution 13-052 Authorizing Purchase of an Easement Jetting Machine Morton requested that items 51, 5J and 5K be removed from the consent agenda for discussion. Keeney requested that item 5F be removed from the consent agenda for discussion. Hedberg requested that item 5H be removed from the consent agenda for discussion. ' MOTION BY MCGUIRE, SECOND BY SOUKUP TO APPROVE THE CONSENT AGENDA AS MODIFIED. VOTE: Ayes by Hedberg, Keeney, McGuire, Morton and Soukup. The motion carried. MOTION BY SOUKUP, SECOND BY MCGUIRE TO APPROVE ITEM 51, CONSIDER APPROVAL OF LANGUAGE IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE REQUIREMENTS SET FORTH IN MN STAT. 471.701 RELATED TO POSTING OF BASE SALARIES. Morton: Commented that a topic raised regarding transparency issues should not have been placed on the Consent Agenda. Queried if it would be reasonable to defer the topic until a re- sponse is received from the Attorney General. Meyer: Stated her understanding that the idea behind the Statute regarding posting salaries is to have the information available to public prior to property tax statements coming out. Noted that some cities post the information in January; other include it with property tax statements. Prior Lake has always tried to get the information out at the same time as the property tax statements or before; and added that deferring the posting later than August would put us out of compliance with the Statute. It is unknown how long the Attorney General opinion will take. Morton: Asked when the information was posted previously. Meyer: Generally from April through July. Morton: Asked the City Attorney's opinion of whether we should wait a couple of weeks. Rosow: Concurred that it is unknown when the Attorney General opinion would be received. Stated he has reviewed and approved the language proposed in this report. Stated he sees no problem with going forward, but if Council wishes to delay we would just need to keep track of the calendar so it can be posted for the required period of time to remain in compliance. McGuire: Asked if this is generally brought before the Council. Meyer: Replied that the proposed language was brought to the Council because there was a complaint and discussion about whether to supply more or less information. Morton: Stated she will not be in favor of moving forward. Hedberg: Commented that the complaint received includes two issues: whether a Statute was violated, by posting only base salary and whether the City Manager wages are in excess of statuto- ry maximums. Ideally the Attorney General will respond to both to learn whether we have done anything wrong. This proposed language is consistent with what was presented in the last contract DRAFT 04 22 13 City Council Meeting Minutes 2 approval for the City Manager. Stated he would support posting this in response to the request for more transparency as it is more information than posted in the past. Keeney: Commented that we would not be precluded from amending this posting if more infor- mation is received from the Attorney General or City Attorney. Hedberg: Added that the Council has a work session scheduled in May regarding overall com- pensation for the City and agreed this action would not preclude changes for the future. VOTE: Ayes by Hedberg, Keeney, McGuire and Soukup. Nay by Morton. The motion carried. MOTION BY KEENEY, SECOND BY SOUKUP TO APPROVE ITEM 5J, CONSIDER APPROVAL OF RESOLUTION 13-051 REQUESTING FUNDING FROM MNDOT THROUGH THE CORRIDOR INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT STRATEGY PILOT SOLICITATION (CIMS) FOR THE TRUNK HIGHWAY 13 / CSAH 21 / MAIN AVENUE IMPROVEMENT PROJECT. Morton: Questioned additional costs stating her belief that Bolton and Menk would have the in- formation needed to prepare the applications and questioned an additional fee of $7,000. Poppler: Displayed a graphic for the project for which the CIMS application is being considered. For this application, the data needs to be placed in a format usable for the application. Part of it involved distributing the cost for the project. Portions on the trunk highway system needed to be called out separately as well as the City and County portions of the project. The cost for preparing the application was around $7,000. Morton: Asked if the expense has already been incurred or if this action is to approve the work. Poppler: Responded that the council discussed this in work session and the work is nearly com- pleted. This completes the final cost allocation. Morton: Recalled that if the City did not receive the grant, staff believed they would be able to rep- licate the work for future applications by reusing this Bolton and Menk work product. Poppler: Affirmed that staff has had success in the past with second round grant applications when staff used work done by consultants with first round grant applications that were denied. Keeney: Believes this was not scheduled in our CIP because there was no State funding availa- ble, but now we have an opportunity to get this intersection work funded. This project is critical to downtown Prior Lake. Poppler: Affirmed there is no funding programmed with MnDOT for this project. The County has programmed funds for 2019 and the City has programmed money in 2016. This would allow all of the entities to become financially aligned and get this project moving. Displayed the breakout of funding proposed for the project. A minimum of ten percent must be funded locally to move for- ward. Hedberg: Asked the amount of the CIMS grant application. Poppler: Replied it is for the unprogrammed MnDOT portion which is $4.2 million. VOTE: Ayes by Hedberg, Keeney, McGuire, Morton and Soukup. The motion carried. MOTION BY MCGUIRE, SECOND BY SOUKUP TO APPROVE ITEM 5K, CONSIDER APPROV- AL OF RESOLUTION 13-052 AUTHORIZING PURCHASE OF AN EASEMENT JETTING MA- CHINE Morton: Commented that this item goes in tandem with equipment purchases approved at the last Council meeting. Asked for background on this proposed purchase. Gehler: Existing machine is a 1990 jetter which was purchased used. The machine proposed for purchase was built in 2011. It is a demo machine and will come with a full warranty. Described the uses of the machine and the characteristics of the 10.3 miles of sewer by the lake in which it will be used. Noted that the new machine has several safety features that do not exist on the current ma- chine. DRAFT 04 22 13 City Council Meeting Minutes 3 Morton: Asked why it is preferable to own the machine rather than outsourcing the work. Gehler: Stated that outsourcing costs would come to $24,000 annually as compared with a total purchase price of $50,000 for a machine and it would not allow use of the machinery in emergency situations. Lifetime expectancy is 20 years. Keeney: Asked about the sewer pipe that was turned over to the City by the Metropolitan Council and whether that turnover will increase the City's need for this equipment. Theisen: Replied that the areas around the lake, which have some of the greatest need for this equipment, were turned over to the City. The only Metropolitan Council line in Prior Lake is on the west side of CR 21 north of CR 82 up to CR 42 then flowing east to Pike lake Road then the line runs north on Pike Lake Road on the west side of the roadway to the City limit. VOTE: Ayes by Hedberg, Keeney, McGuire, Morton and Soukup. The motion carried. MOTION BY KEENEY, SECOND BY MCGUIRE TO APPROVE ITEM 5F, CONSIDER APPROVAL OF POLICE DEPARTMENT REPORT. Keeney: Commented that the number of traffic stops is down 33% this month and asked if it is due to staff openings on the police force. Boyles: Affirmed that it is and there is an opening for a full-time officer. Noted that weather could be contributing to the reduced stops with more people staying home. VOTE: Ayes by Hedberg, Keeney, McGuire, Morton and Soukup. The motion carried. MOTION BY HEDBERG, SECOND BY KEENEY TO APPROVE ITEM 5H, CONSIDER APPROV- AL OF RESOLUTIONS WITH RESPECT TO THE COUNTY ROAD 12 AND SUNSET AVENUE IMPROVEMENT PROJECTS: 1) RESOLUTION 13-049 ACCEPTING PROPOSALS AND AU- THORIZING WSB TO PROVIDE CONSTRUCTION STAKING, AND 2) RESOLUTION 13-050 ACCEPTING PROPOSALS AND AUTHORIZING ELEMENT MATERIALS TECHNOLOGY TO PROVIDE CONSTRUCTION TESTING. Hedberg: Noted that some queries have been received asking what the City can do to satisfy the concerns of businesses about customer access that may be impacted by construction projects. Poppler: Replied that the County has written into the contract that access will be maintained to businesses and residences. Detour signage will be installed. Encouraged people to visit the local businesses to do their shopping. Hedberg: Asked if the same procedures will be applied in the Welcome Industrial Park project. Gehler: Affirmed that the contractor will have stipulations to keep access open and signage will be used to direct people to those sites. Hedberg: Suggested that every effort be made to communicate with affected business owners. VOTE: Ayes by Hedberg, Keeney, McGuire, Morton and Soukup. The motion carried. PRESENTATIONS Proclamation Declaring April 27 as River Valley YMCA in Prior Lake "Healthy Kids Day" City Manager Boyles stated that the YMCA is sponsoring Healthy Kids Day. Introduced YMCA Executive Director Mary Erickson. Erickson thanked the Council for endorsing the event. Stated that this is a nation-wide event that focuses on keeping kids healthy and will be occurring at 1,900 YMCAs across the country. Introduced Cindylee Villareale, Director of the River Valley YMCA Early Childhood Learning Center. Villareale described the event and its focus. Mayor Hedberg read the proclamation. River Valley YMCA Community Board President Haugen provided a histo- ry of the YMCA in Prior Lake and how it came to be through a Planned Unit Development and Tax Increment Financing. DRAFT 04 22 13 City Council Meeting Minutes 4 Report on the 2012 Code Enforcement Activity Code Enforcement Officer Stefanisko provided information about the role of code enforcement, methods for providing code enforcement to the public, most common code violations and statistics for 2012. Described the process used for inspections. Noted that five citations were issued in 2012. MOTION BY MORTON, SECOND BY SOUKUP TO APPROVE THE 2012 CODE ENFORCE- MENT ACTIVITY REPORT. Morton: Asked about code enforcement in conjunction with animal control since the animal control function is outsourced. Stefanisko: Replied that he fields phone calls, calls in officers, and calls in 4 Paws Animal Control when animal pick-up is needed. Morton: Asked if the City issues fines for non-compliance. Stefanisko: Replied that citations are issued and if it is life-safety issue, a citation can be issued more quickly than the timeline outlined for compliance. Snow removal must be done within 48 hours. Morton: Clarified that the citation is a financial penalty and asked if the lengthy timeframe for issu- ing warnings and receiving responses has no financial penalty. Stefanisko: Replied that the last resort is to issue a citation. Morton: Asked how many violations are from repeat offenders. Stefanisko: Replied that in the seven months he has been here, there have been two properties that are repeats. Keeney: Asked if there are complaints made where there is no violation. Stefanisko: Replied that last year there five complaints that were invalid. Keeney: Noted that having a vehicle parked in a yard is a common offense and sought clarifica- tion about whether a non-motorized piece of equipment can be parked in the yard, but not a motor- ized vehicle. Stefanisko: Generally, recreational vehicles can be parked in the yard and cars must be in the d riveway. Keeney: Asked about the usual cause for improper parking of cars. Stefanisko: Too many vehicles. Hedberg: Commented that half of violations were handled proactively meaning the code enforce- ment officer observed the violations rather than receiving a complaint. Believes that accounts for the increase in incidents since 2007 when the City had no code enforcement officer on staff. Prior to that code enforcement was done on a reactive basis only. Keeney: Commented that when we live in a community our neighbors impact us and some stand- ards must be set. Generally comments received from residents are that they want the code en- forced. This is an important function for the City. VOTE: Ayes by Hedberg, Keeney, McGuire, Morton and Soukup. The motion carried. PUBLIC HEARINGS No public hearing was scheduled. OLD BUSINESS Consider Approval of a Resolution Authorizing the Repayment of CJF Holdings for a Devel- opment Agreement DRAFT 04 22 13 City Council Meeting Minutes 5 Public Works / Natural Resources Director Gehler provided a history of the project whereby CJF Holdings paid developer fees for utility installation in 2008 with the intention that the fees would be reimbursed to them as properties developed and the City collected connection fees. The utilities will serve the rest of the Welcome Industrial Park properties. CJF Holdings has requested reimbursement of developer fees. MOTION BY MORTON, SECOND BY SOUKUP TO APPROVE RESOLUTION 13-053 AUTHOR- IZING THE MAYOR AND CITY MANAGER TO EXECUTE AMENDMENT NO. 2 TO THE DEVEL- OPER'S AGREEMENT WITH CJF HOLDINGS LLC. Keeney: Commented that this is an unusual situation in that the landowner wanted to put in a business and the City developed this agreement to make this happen. It was the right decision at the time. If CJF Holdings is happy with this settlement, believes it will be the right thing to do. Will support. Hedberg: Thanked CJF Holdings for the project they funded in 2008. Stated that it contributed to protection of the wellhead and flood plain of Markley Lake; and it spurred the current project for- ward. Will support. Morton: Concurred that the City needs to uphold the agreement and repay CJF Holdings. Asked if there are some properties at risk for paying the connection fees. Gehler: Replied that two properties have remaining connection charges. They are separate from current project. VOTE: Ayes by Hedberg, Keeney, McGuire, Morton and Soukup. The motion carried. NEW BUSINESS Consider Approval of a Resolution Approving the Selection of a Consultant for the County Road 42 Study Area and Approving a Corresponding Budget Amendment Community and Economic Development Director Rogness stated that a Request for Proposal was sent to seven companies and three responses were received. Budget for the study was antic- ipated to be between $40,000 and $50,000. Staff is recommending accepting the proposal of WSB. Funding sources were described. The study is anticipated to be complete by the end of Ju- ly. MOTION BY KEENEY, SECOND BY MCGUIRE TO APPROVE RESOLUTION 13-054 APPOINT- ING WSB & ASSOCIATES, INC. TO COMPLETE THE CR 42 STUDY, AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR AND CITY MANAGER TO EXECUTE THE CITY'S STANDARDIZED PROFESSIONAL SERVICE AGREEMENT, AND APPROVING A CORRESPONDING BUDGET AMENDMENT. VOTE: Ayes by Hedberg, Keeney, McGuire and Soukup. Nay by Morton. The motion carried. Consider Approval of a Letter Supporting Proposed Legislation Providing for a Sales Tax Increase for Transit Purposes City Manager Boyles reviewed the status of legislative discussion about transit funding noting that there is no clear direction at this time. Noted the Council could choose to remain silent about the discussion, adopt a letter that is specific in supporting a sales tax for transit funding, or adopt a let- ter that supports additional funding for transit but is not explicit about how that should happen. Keeney: Asked if the discussed %4 cent sales tax has a specific metro region. Kansier: Replied that the proposal would increase the existing '/4 cent sales tax in five of seven metro counties by'/2 cent up to 3 /4. Scott and Carver would have a 3 / cent sales tax. Keeney: Asked how the money would be distributed back to the counties. Stated there is a long- standing concern that Prior Lake as an opt-out provider still goes through the Metropolitan Council for funds and there has been friction. In order to support this, would want to voice continuing con- DRAFT 04 22 13 City Council Meeting Minutes 6 cern. Part of opt-out is to do transit as best fits each community and it is difficult with competing interests. Morton: Does not support increased taxes. Believes there is no provision for any of the money to come back to Scott and Carver and approximately $9 million would leave our market. Does not support sending letter to Governor's office that agrees with a tax increase. Soukup: Stated that Prior Lake is always at the end of the line and we are constantly being asked to get rid of the opt-out that benefits us. Believes the'/4 cent sales tax increase might not benefit Prior Lake and does not favor sending a letter to increase sales tax for a service that we would not benefit from. Hedberg: Commented that many alternatives are being considered about what will happen with transit funding. Believes if the City sends a letter, it should be something that leaves funding un- specified giving our legislators room to negotiate on our behalf. Believes we should go on record that we support transit and funding should be increased to support transit; and if we are contrib- uting money we have to get money back to cover and improve services for residents here. Sug- gested changes for the proposed letter to include: 1) strike last sentence of first paragraph; 2) use metro area funding legislation rather than sales tax; 3) in last sentence of third paragraph say we do not want to see capital funds compete for operating funds under any revenue proposal; and 4) the last paragraph says where the money goes, but we should go on record for where we expect the money to go and how it should be used. Keeney: Responding to comments about not supporting an increase in taxes, stated the premise of public transit is that it is a cheaper way for people to commute and the end result is that instead of paying for more roads, we put money toward mass transit. Commented that subsidizing afford- ability of transportation is a separate argument — what it costs society as a whole to get people to work — mass transit is most efficient way to go. Believes we should step back from commenting on increasing taxes and emphasize the local control aspect. Believes it is important for the Council as a body to lobby our legislators for things that are important to our community. Morton: Stated it is more appropriate to communicate to the legislative delegation from Scott County vs. sending a letter to Governor Dayton. Keeney: Agreed it should be pursued with local representatives noting that some of them have spoken out against tax increases from a not-increasing-spending perspective. Prefers shifting the focus from spending to build roads to that of mass transit. Suggested the letter should state we cannot support an increase of taxation without having local control. Soukup: Reiterated her feelings about lack of control of the funds and services that Prior Lake would not benefit from, stating the inner ring for the Twin Cities is where most of mass transit hap- pens. If a letter is going to be written, it should bring up the fact that our services are diminished in comparison and we don't want to pay for service that isn't provided to us. Hedberg: Commented that 20 or so years ago, transit ways were beginning to emerge — buses and light rail — and long-range planning transit maps were developed. Scott County is absent from all long-range transit maps. Noted that the Metropolitan Council now highlights Highway 169 as a future transit way, but MnDOT does not. Prior Lake needs to get in the game to get on the map. We opted out of the game. Two of the most important locations for jobs is the Hwy 494 strip through Bloomington and Edina and the Hwy 169 corridor through the northwestern metro and they are high priority for Scott County riders. Believes it makes sense to send this to the Governor be- cause we need to signal that we need to be on the map; and that local control and assurances about where the money is going to go also matters. If we don't get in the game now, we will be off the map for the next generation. MOTION BY MCGUIRE, SECOND BY HEDBERG TO DIRECT STAFF TO SEND A LETTER TO SUPPORT INCREASED TRANSIT FUNDING, BUT ONLY IF THE CITY CAN MAINTAIN LOCAL CONTROL OF FUNDS. VOTE: Ayes by Hedberg, Keeney, McGuire. Nays by Morton and Soukup. The motion carried. DRAFT 04 22 13 City Council Meeting Minutes 7 Morton: Asked that the letter also be copied to the local Senator and Representatives. Hedberg: Suggested sending a copy to them before sending it to the Governor. Kansier: Stated that staff will keep the Council posted on the progress of the bills in legislature. Keeney: Asked if the letter has to come back to the Council before it is sent. Rosow: Replied that the motion was to send the letter with the direction as given. Could be circu- lated to the Council for any input to see if it fits their intent. McGuire: Stated that the intent of his motion is for the letter to be sent because timing is im- portant. Keeney: Agreed. Morton: Would like to see a copy of the final letter. OTHER BUSINESS No other business was brought forward. ADJOURNMENT With no further business brought before the Council, a motion to adjourn was made by Soukup and seconded by Keeney. The motion carried and the meeting adjourned at 8:55 p.m. Frank Boyles, City Manager Charlotte Green, Administrative Assistant DRAFT 04 22 13 City Council Meeting Minutes $