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HomeMy WebLinkAbout07-21-14-WS lt ­-AIZEN HILLS Approved: September 8, 2014 CITY OF ARDEN HILLS, MINNESOTA CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION JULY 21,2014 5:00 P.M. -ARDEN HILLS CITY HALL CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, Mayor Grant called to order the City Council work session at 5:00 p.m. Present: Mayor David Grant; Councilmembers Brenda Holden, Fran Holmes, Dave McClung, and Ed Werner Absent: None Also present: City Administrator Patrick Klaers; Public Works Director Terry Maurer; and Director of Finance and Administrative Services Sue Iverson 1. AGENDA ITEMS A. CIP Director of Finance and Administrative Services Iverson stated that staff would like input from the City Council on the 2015-2019 Five-Year CIP and the 2015-2019 equipment. Development of a five-year CIP is needed to enable the creation of a long-range financial plan for the City to evaluate reserve balances and to analyze available funds for future projects. This is a living document and only meant to be a "guiding plan". As each project or purchase is made, it must be brought to the City Council for discussion and approval. Only the 2015 expenditures will be included in the 2015 Operating Budget. This plan will be brought to the December 8, 2014 Council meeting for final approval. Mayor Grant recommended that the conversation begin with streets. He requested further comment from staff on the PCI ratings. Public Works Director Maurer reviewed the 2014 PCI ratings in detail with the Council. Mayor Grant commented that he was surprised by the numbers and questioned who gathered the data. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION—JULY 21, 2014 2 Public Works Director Maurer reported that the information was collected by the engineering intern and a full-time seasonal worker under the direction of Assistant City Engineer John Anderson. He explained that the rating system only evaluates the surface condition of the roadway. He believed that staff was diligent in assessing the roads and counting cracks and that the ratings are accurate. Discussion ensued regarding street conditions. Mayor Grant believed that the ranking on Fairview was too high. He discussed the Venus area and suggested going after some of these individual streets instead of completing the entire neighborhood. He proposed completing Gramsie,Rolling Hills Road and Venus. Councilmember Holden asked how much the City could afford to spend next year on roads. She believed that the neighborhood approach near Venus made sense, along with Grant and Noble. She indicated that Lake Lane was another road in poor condition. Mayor Grant understood that the City had $2.2 million allotted for roads over the next two years. Councilmember McClung supported the back side of the Venus neighborhood being completed along with Grant and Noble. Public Works Director Maurer reported that the estimated prices given for improvement of these roadways was for reclamation and not total reconstruction. He expressed concern that by doing a neighborhood in pieces, assessment rates could vary from year to year. Councilmember Holmes questioned if the City had to complete road improvements in 2015 and 2016. She feared that if the Venus neighborhood was split into pieces this would lead to problems with the residents. She commented that the Council had no funds allotted for roads in 2017 or 2018. This meant that the City would not get back to the Venus neighborhood to complete the streets until 2019. Mayor Grant asked if any of this project was Municipal State Aid eligible. Public Works Director Maurer reported that this was not the case. Councilmember McClung inquired if there were any projects planned that were MSA eligible. Public Works Director Maurer commented that the City has recently used MSA funds for Snelling Avenue North and Round Lake Road. He indicated that future MSA projects included Old Snelling, County Road E streetscaping, and the bridge projects over I-35W. Discussion ensued regarding the priorities for street projects. Mayor Grant summarized that there was Council support for the improvement of Grant and Noble. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION—JULY 21, 2014 3 Councilmember Holden supported Grant, Noble and the Venus area being completed, but not Indian Place. She also recommended that Lake Lane be considered for improvement. Mayor Grant asked how the Council could find additional funding for streets. City Administrator Klaers reviewed the amount available in the PIR fund. Councilmember Holden suggested that the $65,000 allotted for Freeway Park be reallocated. Mayor Grant agreed stating that these PIR funds could be reassigned back to the park if the City were to receive savings on the proposed road project. Further discussion was held regarding extending the proposed 35W to Mounds View High School trail further east to Valentine Park. Mayor Grant summarized Council support for the Venus neighborhood and Grant, Noble, and Lake Lane road projects moving forward in 2015 with the Freeway Park funds and the Mounds View High School to Valentine Park trail segment funds being reallocated to roads. He recommended that the Council now discuss parks. Public Works Director Maurer reported that the first portion of the Bethel trail from County Road E from the bridge to Old Highway 10 could be completed in 2015 with the County Road E improvements. He suggested that this section should be a sidewalk rather than a trail. Mayor Grant questioned why the gateway sign line item was pushed back. City Administrator Klaers indicated that the sign at Lexington and Highway 96 would be a larger project and would take a fair amount of staff time. For this reason, he did not believe this project would take place in 2014. He reported that the EDA fund had adequate reserves for gateway signs for the next couple of years. Councilmember Holden believed that the next gateway sign that should be completed is at County Road D and Cleveland because this was a smaller sign. She recommended that the City pursue this sign in 2014. City Administrator Klaers commented that this may be an option due to the fact that the City already had an easement and it was a smaller sign. Councilmember Holden asked when the City would be receiving the new voting system. Director of Finance and Administrative Services Iverson stated that Ramsey County has not gotten their bids out yet. She anticipated that the City would not begin receiving bills for this equipment until 2015. Mayor Grant requested comment from staff on the sanitary sewer expenses along with the grants the City had received. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION—JULY 21, 2014 4 Public Works Director Maurer discussed the sanitary sewer projects planned for 2015 and the years following. He indicated that 25% of the sewer lining expense could be covered by Metropolitan Council Environmental Services grants that staff will be applying for this fall. Public Works Director Maurer suggested that the Highway 96 sidewalk be pushed to 2016 as he believes it makes the most sense to complete this project in conjunction with the TCAAP spine road construction. Councilmember Holden questioned how many more lift stations had to be reconstructed after Station 11. Public Works Director Maurer stated that this was the last one. Mayor Grant suggested that the Lift Station be moved to 2016 to level off some of the expenditures in 2015, along with the sidewalk on Highway 96. Councilmember Holmes agreed. The Council concurred. Public Works Director Maurer suggested that the water tower repair/repainting could also be moved to 2016. Councilmember Holden supported this recommendation as it would spread out the water expenses. The Council concurred. Discussed ensued regarding Public Works Department equipment scheduled on the CIP. Mayor Grant preferred to have the plow truck for TCAAP development moved from 2018 to 2019 along with the F350. He suggested the mower remain in 2018 as this would assist in leveling off expenses. Public Works Director Maurer did not have any concerns with these suggestions. Mayor Grant asked if the Council had any other comments on the CIP. Councilmember Holden was in favor of the Council looking into the possible purchase of the former Carroll's Furniture property. Mayor Grant inquired if the Council wanted to discuss the former Carroll's Furniture property at a future work session. City Administrator Klaers reported that this discussion could be done when the Council meets on Monday, July 28th in work session to discuss the County Road E improvements. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION—JULY 21, 2014 5 The Council concurred with this suggestion. 2. COUNCIL COMMENTS AND STAFF UPDATES City Administrator Klaers provided the Council with an update on the City/County staff TCAAP meetings. He explained that now that the Master Plan land use map has been approved, a slightly different group was beginning to meet in St. Paul and listed the individuals that would be in attendance. He indicated that the purpose of these meetings would be to discuss the status of the site, how the project was moving forward and the prospects for the thumb. He reported that this TCAAP Stakeholders group held their first meeting on July 17. Councilmember Holden suggested that the green spine be referred to as the water feature. Mayor Grant suggested that this area be referred to as the storm water feature. City Administrator Klaers discussed the recent cleanup day and stated that staff was recommending that$10 be charged per vehicle for the fall cleanup day. Mayor Grant recommended that staff clarify the difference between a car and van. City Administrator Klaers noted that he would be out of the office August 1St-151H ADJOURN Mayor Grant adjourned the City Council work session at 6:58 p.m. ALJ �ajPatrick Klaers David Grant City Administrator Mayor