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HomeMy WebLinkAbout12 04 2017 City Council Minutes 1 4646 Dakota Street SE Prior Lake, MN 55372 REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES December 04, 2017 CALL TO ORDER Mayor Briggs called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. Present were Councilors McGuire, Thompson, Burkart and Braid, City Manager Boyles, City Attorney Schwarzhoff, Assistant City Manager Olson, Finance Director Erickson, Police Chief Elliott, Fire Chief Steinhaus, Community Development Director McCabe, Public Works Director Wedel, Project Engineer Monserud and Executive Assistant Schroeder. PUBLIC FORUM City Manager Boyles reviewed the process for the public forum and explained that items sched- uled for public hearing or items for which a public hearing has been held but no final action taken, are not eligible for discussion on the public forum. No Members of the Public Spoke APPROVAL OF AGENDA MOTION BY THOMPSON, SECOND BY MCGUIRE TO APPROVE THE AGENDA VOTE Briggs McGuire Thompson Burkart Braid Aye ☒ ☒ ☒ ☒ ☒ Nay ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ Abstain ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ Absent ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ The motion carried. APPROVAL OF CITY COUNCIL MEETING MINUTES MOTION BY BRAID, SECOND BY MCGUIRE TO APPROVE THE MINUTES OF THE NOVEM- BER 20, 2017 REGULAR MEETING AS PRESENTED VOTE Briggs McGuire Thompson Burkart Braid Aye ☒ ☒ ☒ ☐ ☒ Nay ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ Abstain ☐ ☐ ☐ ☒ ☐ Absent ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ The motion carried. CONSENT AGENDA City Manager Boyles reviewed the items on the consent agenda. Draft 12 04 17 City Council Meeting Minutes 2 5A. Consider Approval of Claims Listing 5B. Consider Approval of October 2017 Treasurers Report 5C. Consider Approval of a Resolution 17-197 Approving a Cooperative Law Enforcement Agreement Between the City of Prior Lake and Other Governmental Agencies Related to the 2018 Club Nomadic Event 5D. Consider Approval of a Resolution 17-198 Ordering the Preparation of a Feasibility Re- port for the 2018 Overlay Project 5E. Consider Approval of 2018 Massage Therapy License Renewals 5F. Consider Approval of 2018 Cigarette License Renewals 5G. Consider Approval of a Resolution 17-199 Accepting the Improvements for the Maple Place Development 5H. Consider Approval of a Resolution 17-200 Designating Polling Locations for the 2018 Elections 5I. Consider Approval of a Resolution 17-201 Authorizing the Mayor and City Manager to Execute an Amendment to the Water Tower Antenna Agreement With AT&T for the Tower Street Water Tower Property MOTION BY BRAID, SECOND BY THOMPSON TO APPROVE THE CONSENT AGENDA VOTE Briggs McGuire Thompson Burkart Braid Aye ☒ ☒ ☒ ☒ ☒ Nay ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ Abstain ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ Absent ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ The motion carried. PRESENTATIONS No Presentations Scheduled PUBLIC HEARINGS 7A Public Hearing to Consider Approval of an On-Sale Intoxicating Liquor License for Ar- tisan Nexuz LLC dba Artisan Bistro & Bar City Manager Boyles presented on this agenda report dated December 04, 2017. MOTION BY MCGUIRE, SECOND BY THOMPSON TO OPEN THE PUBLIC HEARING AT 7:07 P.M. VOTE Briggs McGuire Thompson Burkart Braid Aye ☒ ☒ ☒ ☒ ☒ Nay ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ Abstain ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ Absent ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ The motion carried. Lowell Rieck, 3526 Willow Beach Street SW: Began to speak about Sycamore Trail project. Draft 12 04 17 City Council Meeting Minutes 3 Briggs: Stopped Rieck to let him know this public hearing is in regard to Artisan Bistro and Bar; stated they will re-open the public forum after the public hearings for him to speak. MOTION BY THOMPSON, SECOND BY BRAID TO CLOSE THE PUBLIC HEARING AT 7:10 P.M. VOTE Briggs McGuire Thompson Burkart Braid Aye ☒ ☒ ☒ ☒ ☒ Nay ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ Abstain ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ Absent ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ The motion carried. MOTION BY MCGUIRE, SECOND BY BRAID TO APPROVE RESOLUTION 17-202 FOR A ON- SALE INTOXICATING LIQUOR LICENSE FOR ARTISAN NEXUZ LLC DBA ARTISAN BISTRO & BAR VOTE Briggs McGuire Thompson Burkart Braid Aye ☒ ☒ ☒ ☒ ☒ Nay ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ Abstain ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ Absent ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ The motion carried. 7B Budget Hearing to Consider Approval of Resolutions Adopting 2018 Prior Lake Budg- ets and Certifying Final 2018 City of Prior Lake Property Tax Levies to Scott County De- partment of Taxation Finance Director Erickson presented on this agenda report dated December 04, 2017. MOTION BY BURKART, SECOND BY MCGUIRE TO OPEN THE PUBLIC HEARING AT 7:28 P.M. VOTE Briggs McGuire Thompson Burkart Braid Aye ☒ ☒ ☒ ☒ ☒ Nay ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ Abstain ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ Absent ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ The motion carried. Mike Rothmeyer, 6340 850th Street: Asked if most people will see a tax decrease. Stated his property was assessed $165,000 more for 2018 verses 2017; every time the appraiser raises your property value, your taxes go up. Added real-estate taxes will go up $2,100 for him since Draft 12 04 17 City Council Meeting Minutes 4 the value was increased. Asked if the appraiser raised a lot of properties on purpose and if it was all the lake owners. Asked if the city received the rates from the county. Erickson: Responded 45% will see a decrease in the city portion; 22% received a property value increase by more than 15%. Briggs: Noted the county assessor presented the rates during a work session this year and some properties received increases. Rothmeyer: Stated this is the highest property tax increase he has ever seen. Noted he appre- ciates that some homeowner’s taxes will go down. Believed the lake owner properties are being picked on but he thinks the city is doing good work if the average household is going down. Alex Chin, 4466 Pondview Trail SE: Stated his taxes increased 12% which is the highest amount he has had in the six years at this property. Asked when the property is being assess, what is the guidelines used to assess the property. Noted if you go in for a loan at the bank, they will say you house is worth less than what the county has assessed for. Robert Daniel, 17148 Sunset Trail: Noted his taxes will go up over 15% this year due to the valuation; he does not know how his home has gone up almost $100,000 over last year. Stated the statement says it is not the time to talk about the valuation or to appeal. Asked when can that be done and are we notified of the appraised value before this statement is sent out. Mike Farnex, 14346 Rutgers Street NE: Asked what the $140,000 expenditure for economic development is for, who gets the money and what development is the city perusing. MOTION BY BRAID, SECOND BY THOMPSON TO CLOSE THE PUBLIC HEARING AT 7:39 P.M. VOTE Briggs McGuire Thompson Burkart Braid Aye ☒ ☒ ☒ ☒ ☒ Nay ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ Abstain ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ Absent ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ The motion carried. Boyles: Explained the city contracts with Scott County Appraisal Department to do the appraisals for Prior Lake properties; they have an open book appeals process which normally takes place in the spring but you can contact Michael Thompson, the Scott County Appraiser at 952.496.8972. Stated the values around the lake where dramatically increased based on actual sale transactions in their area. Continued that the role of the Economic Development Authority is to retain existing businesses and attract new businesses. Noted we have had several expansions in the last year and some ask for public subsidy which comes from this levy. Added that money is used to support staff working with the growth of commercial and industrial development in the community. Stated First Stop Shop with Scott County is tasked to gather information for properties which can be turned around fast to provide information for increased development. Braid: Noted a few weeks ago the council adopted a Winter Maintenance Policy which had re- duced maintenance in turn saving staff time. Asked if staff has reduced the winter maintenance, can we push off hiring the Parks Maintenance Worker that is listed in the budget until June 1, 2018. Draft 12 04 17 City Council Meeting Minutes 5 Wedel: Responded that hire would still help with snow removal. Explained the city has had the same staffing level in the parks department for well over a decade even though there has been added parks, trails and streets. Stated this would help get the city to where we should be and it is long overdue. Added hiring and training employees can take time and the city would like to start that process. Erickson: Stated all the Maintenance W orkers are involved in snow removal; even if they work in the parks they are brought in for snow removal. Added the delay in hiring this employee until June would be $39,000. Thompson: Stated in the equipment fund we are rolling over $327,000 and will need $550,000 from the tax levy for a total of $877,000 in the revolving equipment fund but we are spending $1.4 million with bonding for the remainder. Asked if the facility fund has any tax levy money. Erickson: Responded no. Thompson: Stated we are not levying for the facility fund but spending almost a million dollars. Erickson: Explained the city tries to build these funds over time because when there is a big equipment purchase, you just cannot have those funds readily available. Continued that we look at the annual equipment replacement cost would be and we strive to build up that fund on an an- nual basis. Stated when we have a large purchase such as the fire truck, if we bond for something like that, we are spreading the cost over time where current and future residents who have the benefit of the new fire truck or improved facility pay for that. Thompson: Responded that is an interesting twist she had not considered. Stated we are spend- ing $7.2 million and bonding for $4.2 million for the transportation plan. Erickson: Replied that is the estimation for three projects in 2018. Thompson: Stated our total bonding this year is $4.9 million and our payments in 2018 are $3.3 million, 2019 are $3.6 million and 2021 are $4.1 million; she would like to find a way to decrease our debt and utilize the money we make on payments to pay for items with cash. Added particu- larly in 2018 we are spending a lot of money on equipment; a fire truck, a sweeper and a 5-ton truck; do we have to have all that equipment in one year? Erickson: Noted the capital improvement plan is to look forward 5-10 years where we slot in the expected end of life. Explained the fire truck has been pushed off for a while which has cost us due to additional repairs; that leads us to say, how much do you want to spend on repairs and maintenance verses getting a new fire truck. Stated we are trying to spread out the expenditures over time; it is one thing to see a plan on paper and now it is time to execute the plan. Thompson: Stated she understands that and agrees a new fire truck is needed but could we wait on the sweeper. Asked if we have the $877,000 maybe that is all we should spend. Noted she un- derstands we have a plan but we should still note what money we have that can be spent. McGuire: Noted the problem with that is the money in those funds comes from taxes, if council is willing to increase taxes a percent or two it would help. Stated if a project or equipment purchase is put off for 5 years with the rate of inflation at 3-4% there will be a 15-20% increase in your cost. Noted it makes sense to get these projects done in the timeline; the street sweeper is very im- portant part of our storm water control system which is really effective. Suggested if you are trying to make a cut with delaying an employee hire, it should be all the positions moved to April saving one or two percent. Briggs: Stated on the revenue side it is premature to have a conversation around changes in lo- cal government aid but there are opportunities. Asked if there is an opportunity to approach the watershed district to help fund that piece of equipment. Draft 12 04 17 City Council Meeting Minutes 6 Wedel: Noted he planted the seed in the tune around $30,000 for the sweeper; they did help pur- chase our last sweeper in exchange we put their logo on it and using it as an educational piece. Continued he needs to figure out the type of sweeper and then will ask for funds from the water- shed district. Thompson: Stated the same people are being taxed for that money; in her mind it does not mat- ter who the tax is coming from; the tax pressure just goes from the city to the watershed district. McGuire: Noted it is a bigger taxing area but about 60% comes from the Prior Lake. Braid: Stated the budget process began in January and is a work in progress; there are a lot of things that have been put off for quite a few years to keep the levy low overtime. Explained he was facing a 17% increase in his taxes last year which got him motivated to join the council. Noted this budget addresses things that the city has been dealing with such as the need for offic- ers, we have the highest crime rate in Scott County. Stated the new fire truck has been put off for years and years; the self-contained breathing units are at the end of life because DOT will not even certify them any longer and has to be purchased. Stated the street sweeper is an interesting one; it keeps the lakes clean and he thought the DNR has rules for a lake community. Noted these are core services; he is open to moving the Parks Maintenance W orker to June 2018; we need to live in our means but we need to keep up overtime instead of the massive increases. McGuire: Noted his value and taxes are going to go up but he likes the services we have; in the past 6-8 years the council kept taking the easy way out until all of a sudden, we had to do high in- creases and he does not want the council to back into that same corner. Stated due to the cost of living and growth factors this is a reasonable increase. Briggs: Seconded McGuire’s comments. Believed there will be additional revue coming into the city through local government aid before the end of the year; those dollars are not from taxpayers’ pockets and can offset debt or the levy. Explained this should happen by December 11, 2017 and we will be able to decide where that money goes. Supports the delay of the Parks Maintenance Worker in an attempt to keep the levy down; that with the local government aid would keep the levy below growth which he supports. Noted he anticipates a high tax bill in 2018. Thompson: Stated she does not have an issue with the tax levy, she has a problem with the $5 million debt which is too much to add; she wants to see the debt go down. Reminded everyone the levy proposal is 4.4% which is reasonable since it is under growth and inflation but there is an increase in water and sewer which we cannot forget about. Stated look at the big picture, not just the levy. Erickson: Addressed the issue of debt, but the first step we take is whether we can afford it and how we are going to pay for it. Explained when you finance the public improvements with debt you spread the cost overtime, which results in the debt levy being lower each year. Stated a new street is paid by current and new residents. Added we do focus on the debt in the CIP and in the long-range plan. McGuire: Suggested holding off to see if the city will receive the local government aid. Briggs: Stated council could hold off or move forward with the 4.4% and any additional revenue opportunities could be put towards debt. Braid: Noted he would like more information before moving forward so council can discuss how to proceed. Thompson: Stated the dollar amounts that would be saved are not that significant and would be ok with moving forward. Draft 12 04 17 City Council Meeting Minutes 7 Burkart: Stated now being on the council and part of the machine he is thankful for a 4.4% in- crease in the levy. Noted he is concerned about adding the positions since the budget and levy is driven by the full-time employees that we add; he is comfortable pushing the positions back. McGuire: Asked Burkart for clarification that he wants to move all the positions back. Burkart: Responded he is comfortable moving the Parks Maintenance Worker and the CSO posi- tion; ideally, we would all love to have an officer on every street corner but we cannot afford that, so what can we afford? Stated he would like to manage the full-time employees as much as we can. Thompson: Stated it sounds like everyone is comfortable with the 4.4% tax levy which includes the staff. Asked why would we move staff then. Burkart: Responded he is comfortable moving from 4.4% to 4.1% by moving the positions. Briggs: Stated he sees no reason why we cannot approve the 4.4% but push the maintenance position to take that saved money into debt. Added this is not a lot of money but moving us in the right direction. McGuire: Commented that it has been 10 years since we added a position in parks and we have added at least five police officers in the last year which does not add up because there has been the same amount of growth for all departments. Suggested either move all the employees back three months or none of them. MOTION BY MCGUIRE, SECOND BY THOMPSON TO APPROVE RESOLUTION 17-203 ADOPTING 2018 PRIOR LAKE BUDGETS AND CERTIFYING FINAL 2018 CITY OF PRIOR LAKE PROPERTY TAX LEVIES TO SCOTT COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF TAXATION Braid: Stated his preferred option is to move the maintenance position; he understands the rea- soning but we did reduce the workload via the Winter Maintenance Policy. VOTE Briggs McGuire Thompson Burkart Braid Aye ☒ ☒ ☒ ☒ ☐ Nay ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☒ Abstain ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ Absent ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ The motion carried. 7C Public Hearing to Consider Approval of the Proposed 2018 Official Fee Schedule and Consider Approval of an Amendment to the Prior Lake City Code, Subsection 106.600 and Section 113 Relating to the Official Fee Schedule and Sections 704 and 705 Relating to Utility Charges and a Resolution Approving the Summary of Ordinance for Publication Finance Director Erickson presented on this agenda report dated December 04, 2017. MOTION BY THOMPSON, SECOND BY MCGUIRE TO OPEN THE PUBLIC HEARING AT 8:19 P.M. VOTE Briggs McGuire Thompson Burkart Braid Aye ☒ ☒ ☒ ☒ ☒ Draft 12 04 17 City Council Meeting Minutes 8 Nay ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ Abstain ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ Absent ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ The motion carried. No Members of the Public Spoke MOTION BY BRAID, SECOND BY MCGUIRE TO CLOSE THE PUBLIC HEARING AT 8:20 P.M. VOTE Briggs McGuire Thompson Burkart Braid Aye ☒ ☒ ☒ ☒ ☒ Nay ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ Abstain ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ Absent ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ The motion carried. Braid: Commended that staff has kept the council in the loop which started in January. Added most of these things are fairly small as far as increases to move the development fees closer to costs. MOTION BY THOMPSON, SECOND BY BURKART TO ADOPT THE 2018 OFFICIAL FEE SCHEDULE AND AMENDING THE PRIOR LAKE CITY CODE, SUBSECTION 106.600 AND SECTION 113 RELATING TO THE OFFICIAL FEE SCHEDULE AND SECTIONS 704 AND 705 RELATING TO UTILITY CHARGES AND RESOLUTION 17-204 APPROVING THE SUMMARY OF ORDINANCE 117-20 FOR PUBLICATION VOTE Briggs McGuire Thompson Burkart Braid Aye ☒ ☒ ☒ ☒ ☒ Nay ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ Abstain ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ Absent ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ The motion carried. OLD BUSINESS No Old Business Scheduled NEW BUSINESS Briggs: Invited Rieck to speak. Lowell Rieck, 3526 Willow Beach Street SW: Stated communication is very lax for the Syca- more project. Explained there was going to be a turnaround and then all of a sudden there was no turnaround and everything was supposed to go back to the way it was; there is also a pond Draft 12 04 17 City Council Meeting Minutes 9 no one told him about next to his property. Stated this pond is going to have standing water be- cause he does not see the filtration system that was supposed to be with the pond. Noted there is no barrier at the end of the road; asked if one will be installed. Stated people are now going to drive on his yard since there is no space for golf carts to drive on. Wedel: Explained whenever we are doing street reconstruction projects we look for an option to build a bioretention basin and this pond has been part of the plan from the beginning. Noted he was not here to communicate that if that information was not properly presented to Rieck. Stated it is a long linear retention basin with drain tile that filters into the storm sewer and into the lake. Noted he has met with Rieck to blend the pond with his yard and there will be natural seed planted; this area will become part of our maintenance and we will make sure it is function- ing properly. Stated he provided a letter to Rieck where it is the cities responsibility to maintain this area. Added within 48 hours the water should be filtered. Briggs: Asked for clarification on the golf cart traffic. Wedel: Stated the plans call for reflector signs to be posted at the end of the road. Thompson: Asked if there is room for people to drive their golf carts. Wedel: Responded one would have to drive through the filtration basin. McGuire: Questioned what can the $70,000 in local government aid be used for if the city re- ceives it. Schwarzhoff: Replied for it to affect the levy, the city would report it to the county depending on the timeline; noted they have been flexible in the past. Added the money can go into the general fund as well. Erickson: Noted we do not have to submit the levy until the end of the month. ITEMS REMOVED FROM THE CONSENT AGENDA No Items Removed from the Consent Agenda COUNCILMEMBER LIAISON UPDATES Briggs: Commented on the successful Decembrrr Dazzle and thanked Recreation Manager Bar- stad and Recreation Program Assistants Kelsey Coy and Lesley Young. OTHER BUSINESS / COUNCILMEMBER REPORTS Burkart: Related to item 7A, asked what is provided as for as training for age checks and sting operations? Elliott: Responded neither the Police Department nor the City provide training but the ordinance and the application note the business needs to provide training to their employees. Briggs: Asked if the city follows up to see if the training has been done. Elliott: Stated some cities with a City Clerks may have this option since the clerk handles all the licensing; since we do not have a clerk, this license is handled by our department. Briggs: Noted December 11, 2017 is the next City Council meeting. McGuire: Stated there is a Senior Luncheon on December 11, 2017 at the VFW. ADJOURNMENT With no further business brought before the Council, a motion was made by Thompson and se- conded by McGuire to adjourn. The motion carried and the meeting adjourned at 8:41 p.m. Draft 12 04 17 City Council Meeting Minutes 10 VOTE Briggs McGuire Thompson Burkart Braid Aye ☒ ☒ ☒ ☒ ☒ Nay ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ Abstain ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ Absent ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ ☐ The motion carried. _______________________ Frank Boyles, City Manager