Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout06-18-12-WS EN HILLS Approved: July 30, 2012 CITY OF ARDEN HILLS,MINNESOTA CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION MEETING JUNE 18,2012 5:00 P.M. -ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, Mayor David Grant called to order the City Council Work Session meeting at 5:05 p.m. Present: Mayor David Grant; Councilmembers Brenda Holden, Fran Holmes, Ed Werner, and Nick Tamble (Councilmember Tamble arrived at 5:11 p.m.) Absent: None Also present: City Administrator Patrick Klaers; Public Works Director Terry Maurer; Community Development Director Jill Hutmacher; Parks and Recreation Manager Michelle Olson; Finance Analyst Kyle Howard; and Deputy City Clerk Amy Died 1. APPROVAL OF AGENDA The Council accepted the agenda as presented. 2. AGENDA ITEMS A. 2013 —2017 Capital Improvement Plan(CIP) Discussion Mayor Grant suggested the Council go through the changes that were outlined in the memo provided by Finance Director Iverson. Councilmember Holmes stated she would like to discuss the blue sheets in the back of the CIP before discussing the general contents of the CIP. Councilmember Holden commented that she feels the memo is saying, "What we don't spend this year, we'll spend next year"; which seems like a justification for spending that money, and that does not work for her. She reasoned that some things probably came in higher than what was budgeted for, and she would like to look at the expenditures that were over budget. Mayor Grant questioned if there is anything the City over budgeted. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION—JUNE 18, 2012 2 Finance Analyst Howard stated that he would need to research that information. City Administrator Klaers explained that we have not had any red flags regarding 2012 CIP expenditures; nothing has been significantly over our expense projections. He stated that it sounds like Council would like a status report, which is information that can be compiled and presented at a future meeting. Mayor Grant stated that he wants numbers--we budgeted "x" and we spent "y" and what is the difference between those numbers. City Administrator Klaers stated that everyone on Council was present when the 2012-16 CIP was adopted last year, so everyone should be familiar with it. For tonight's meeting, he suggests going over the 2013-17 CIP memo, which highlights items that have been delayed for a year and other major changes, additions, and deletions, and staff can answer questions as they arise. Parks and Recreation Manager Olson discussed item number one of the memo, which pertains to Valentine Park Pathway and funding a pathway on Old Snelling Avenue from Lake Valentine Road/Valentine Park to County Road E2. Councilmember Holmes questioned if the project would be completed if the grant award is not obtained. Parks and Recreation Manager Olson confirmed that the project was not planned to move forward if grant money is not received. Parks and Recreation Manager Olson discussed item two, which is in regard to fencing at Perry Park, and item three, which references an off-leash dog park area that the PTRC is researching. Community Development Director Hutmacher presented items four, five, and six of the memo. She pointed out that the cost of item six (Communications Equipment) is reflected in the 2013 budget; however, if Council wants, improvements may be made sooner. One of the issues with the audio at the dais has already been resolved, but the second issue needing to be addressed requires purchasing a"mixer",which processes all of the audio from the microphones. Councilmember Tamble stated that the audio upgrade should be expedited and we should not wait until 2013 to fix the problem. Mayor Grant agreed and said that it should be a priority. If it's an issue; let's fix it. City Administrator Klaers confirmed that staff will move forward with the project. Community Development Director Hutmacher presented item seven of the memo, which pertains to the cost of the new website project. She explained that the city entered into a three year contract with CivicPlus which spreads out the expense of the website, support, and hosting at a cost of$9,545 per year. In 2015, assuming the city continues to use CivicPlus, the annual cost to host and support the website is projected to be $4,614, with a 5% cost increase annually. If the ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION—JUNE 18, 2012 3 City commits to CivicPlus for four years, CivicPlus will redesign the website in year five at no extra charge. Public Works Director Maurer gave a brief update on the five sanitary sewer projects highlighted in the memo and explained that two of the projects have been eliminated from the CIP and offered reasons why money is increasing or decreasing in the CIP for the other projects. Public Works Director Maurer discussed item nine of the memo, which is in regard to the water department. He explained that the water meter replacement program will be commencing in July. Public Works Director Maurer indicated that a second item was added to the CIP to purchase a hand held GPS unit for locating valves, curb boxes and other amenities in the field which can be added to the GIS map. Staff borrowed similar equipment from the county and it worked really well. Public Works Director Maurer talked about another item that was added to the CIP concerning the roof at the Booster Station. Estimates came in a little lower than the anticipated amount, and after several years of leaking situations and attempts to patch the roof, it is time to replace the entire roof. Public Works may actually ask for this to proceed in 2012 to avoid another short term fix. Discussion continued regarding the surface water management program, street department projects, and general Public Works equipment. City Administrator Klaers presented items thirteen and fourteen of the memo, which include the purchase of Springbrook software upgrades and a plotter (to print maps and signs) under the 2013 expenditures. City Administrator Klaers asked the Council to review the "projects by category"tab of the CIP. He noted that the park capital improvements category includes a $50,000 budget each year for trail rehabilitation. This is an ongoing need that will be in the CIP budget every year. City Administrator Klaers drew attention to another item in the CIP under street reconstruction. West Round Lake Road PMP has $50,000 in the CIP for 2017. This is a road project related to TIF District#2 and the district is scheduled to expire at the end of 2015. City Administrator Klaers explained that sometime in 2012 or 2013, the Council will need to make a decision about what should be done with West Round Lake Road. In this regard, the Assistant City Engineer has been requested to do a preliminary report on needs and options for improvements to this road. City Administrator Klaers pointed out one last item in the CIP under equipment. While changes in the CIP were discussed, there remains a need for a backhoe, a one-ton dump truck and trailer replacement in 2013. These items were in the CIP last year for 2013 and remain in the budget. A typo was pointed out on the memo under item two regarding fencing at Perry Park. The memo states the amount as $25,500 and it should read$20,500. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION—JUNE 18, 2012 4 Mayor Grant expressed his concern that the total cost for street reconstruction projects over the next five years is very high and that the City may not be able to afford all of these projects as scheduled. The Council discussed the need and value of specific street projects. Mayor Grant stated that the Council needs to see a cash flow analysis so they can better evaluate if the projects as planned should move forward. The Council discussed the need for some long range forecasting of street related revenues and expenditures. Councilmember Holmes stated that the blue CIP "Sources and Uses of Funds"pages at the back of the booklet needed some explanation. Her main concern related to the beginning and ending balance amounts in the Enterprise Funds. Staff noted that these figures appeared to be higher than what was presented in previous years and that staff would report back to the Council after meeting with the Finance Director. B. Update on Triangle Parcel Community Development Director Hutmacher recapped that in 2010, Presbyterian Homes moved forward with their redevelopment project, which is now known as Lake Johanna Shores. A senior brownstone-style residential development on the triangle parcel was initially proposed, but there was no neighborhood support, nor was there support of a previous proposal to redevelop the triangle parcel. The City had an interest in acquiring the parcel to permanently restrict development and allow for a City gateway sign. Community Development Director Hutmacher stated that in December 2010, the City entered into a Development Agreement with Presbyterian Homes for Lake Johanna Shores. The Development Agreement requires Presbyterian Homes to remediate the triangle site "to a Minnesota Pollution Control Agency(MPCA) standard for non-residential land use." Community Development Director Hutmacher explained that Presbyterian Homes completed a Phase 11 Environmental Site Assessment in August 2011, and the existing building was demolished and underground tanks were removed in December 2011. Because groundwater contamination was detected, Presbyterian Homes is in the process of delineating the contamination as required by the MPCA. Based on test results thus far, it appears the groundwater contamination has moved off of the triangle parcel. Additional testing was done June 12 and 13, but it will take several weeks to receive results of those tests. The MPCA will not close the file until the groundwater contamination is delineated. Community Development Director Hutmacher indicated that the Development Agreement requires the closing on the conveyance of the triangle parcel to the City to occur by the later of ten days following satisfaction of all contingencies, or June 29, 2012. One of the contingencies is the City being satisfied with the environmental conditions of the property. Once the investigation is ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION—JUNE 18, 2012 5 completed and the MPCA has closed the file, staff will ask for City Council direction on whether to proceed to closing. Discussion continued regarding the remediation of the property. 3. COUNCIL COMMENTS & STAFF UPDATES Councilmember Tamble explained that he had a flurry of ambulance calls and emails again last week. Councilmember Werner stated that he also has received a lot of complaints recently about the ambulance siren noise. Mayor Grant asked staff to call the Fire Chief to inform him that the ambulance in its current location is not working out well and a lot of complaints are being received from residents. With so much commercial space available, there must be another location that would be a better fit and that Allina should start looking for another suitable site for their station base. He would like Allina to provide a status report for the July 9tn meeting. Councilmember Tamble talked about the traffic issues, especially the issues being caused by those taking a right turn out of Target's parking lot. Councilmember Holden added that there are traffic issues at Lindey's corner with the students leaving Bethel College. Councilmember Holmes commented on the entrance to City Hall. She would like to see the signs made by staff (which relate to summer hours, guns not being welcome at city hall, and visitors needing to check in at the front desk) be replaced by professionally printed signs in an effort to clean up the entrance. Councilmember Holden stated that the corner of Highway 96 and Lexington looks very nice. Mayor Grant asked if the flower gardens could be weeded at Lindey's Triangle. Mayor Grant asked about the water rates and whether a water study was going to be done. Finance Analyst Howard indicated that the Finance Department is going to conduct a water study sometime between September and the end of the year. Mayor Grant questioned if water is supposed to drain out of Valentine Park. Public Works Director Maurer answered by saying right now the water is dammed for erosion protection because it is open turf and also to prevent plumes from getting into the lake. The normal water level of Lake Valentine will be below the bottom of the ponds in the park, so most of the time,the ponds will be dry. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION—JUNE 18, 2012 6 Mayor Grant indicated that he has more information on the Arden Hills Foundation. There are some questions that need to be answered, and as of right now, only three people have expressed interest in participating. Councilmember Holmes questioned if the Finance Department could prepare the tax return for The Foundation. City Administrator Klaers asked that the City Attorney comment on this issue. Mayor Grant thinks The Foundation can contract it out. City Administrator Klaers indicated that the City Attorney will be coming early next week if they would like to meet with him to ask their Foundation questions. Mayor Grant announced that he received an email regarding the flooding of the townhomes due to the July 2011 flood and the subsequent damage to the units to the north. The League of Minnesota Cities (LMC) determined the flood to be an Act of God. Contractor's insurance company determined it was an Act of God. The owners of the townhomes are asking if that is the stance the City is taking. Discussion ensued. Since the City's insurance company determined that it was an Act of God, the consensus of the Council is to accept the LMC decision. Mayor Grant asked Council what the City should do about the townhomes on the south side. Consensus of Council is to send the townhome owners a letter to indicate that the city will not be assessing them for an improvement project and will not be moving forward with the project. City Administrator Klaers advised Council that the water meters are being read a week early this quarter. Last quarter they were read a week late. Public Works Director Maurer explained that staff is borrowing equipment from another City and that is why the meters need to be read a week early. ADJOURN Mayor Grant adjourned the City Council Work Session meeting at 8:03 p.m. 1412 Patrick Klaers David Grant City Administrator Mayor