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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02-21-17 WS --ARI�EN�HILLS Approved: March 13, 2017 CITY OF ARDEN HILLS, MINNESOTA CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION FEBRUARY 21, 2017 5:00 P.M. - ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS 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 Steve Scott Absent: None Also present: Director of Finance and Administrative Services Sue Iverson, Public Works Director/City Engineer Sue Polka, Senior Planner Matthew Bachler, Interim City Planner Eric Zweber, Deputy Clerk Jolene Trauba, Metropolitan Council Member Marie McCarthy, BRT/Small Starts Senior Manager Charles Carlson, Metropolitan Council Senior Planner Eric Wojchik, and Metropolitan Council Community Relations Specialist Zoe Mullendore 1. AGENDA ITEMS A. DISCUSSION WITH METROPOLITAN COUNCIL MEMBER McCARTHY Metropolitan Council Member Marie McCarthy thanked the Council for the opportunity to be at the meeting to answer their questions, then introduced BRT/Small Starts Senior Manager Charles Carlson to address the first topic: Status of the A-Line BRT route extension. Senior Manager Carlson presented a PowerPoint outlining the status of the A-Line, noting the ridership, cost to implement an extension, and recommendations. Recommendations included local transit being extended, the BRT be extended in phases, transit readiness be planned into local roadway projects and plans toward pedestrian friendly development patterns be implemented. He also noted that a budget shortfall could cause delay in the extension of the A- line. Councilmember Holmes asked if to save money they could possibly not add A-Line bus stations but have bus service running. Senior Manager Carlson stated that local transit service would not include new bus stops and ridership would be built up during that time. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION—FEBRUARY 21, 2017 2 Mayor Grant wondered if they would be reducing bus service to make up for the budget shortfall. Senior Manager Carlson responded that there is the potential for significant reduction in service. The budget is based on the forecast of motor vehicle sales and the sales tax they receive. Metro-mobility service is also required and very expensive. A fare increase may be contemplated. Councilmember Holden asked if when looking at ridership is it based just on number of employees at large corporations or do they look at younger people that are more willing to take the bus? Senior Manager Carlson said they are looking at how they connect employees here into the region. Part of that would be to avoid the transfer connection at Rosedale, increasing the level of service and matching it to where people are actually coming from. Councilmember Scott remarked that he feels the community here will be receptive to more transit service. Mayor Grant asked if they have had similar discussions with Ramsey County in regards to getting bus service the to TCAAP area. Senior Manager Carlson replied that the county is a significant transit funder, although they haven't had a discussion specifically toward the A-line extension. Metropolitan Council Member McCarthy asked if we were to extend the route, what would the rough estimate be for operating costs. Senior Manager Carlson stated that the rule of thumb is one half million dollars per bus per year. Extending Route 84 to Arden Hills by one bus would get to the County Road F area. Two buses would get to the TCAAP site on a half hour basis. Metropolitan Council Member McCarthy mentioned a handout that was passed around answering other questions the Council had asked at the last meeting she attended. Metropolitan Council Senior Planner Eric Wojchik gave a brief overview of I&I (inflow and infiltration) in the region. Arden Hills has experienced a decline in overall flows in recent years. Arden Hills exceeded the maximum allowable flow rate in 2012, 2014 and 2016 during rainfall events, and successfully completed the requirements for each exceedance. Metropolitan Council Senior Planner Wojchik then addressed the availability of I&I grants, Livable Communities Act grants, storm water grants, and approximate timelines for grant applications. Arden Hills was reimbursed $60,000 through grants last year. The governor has allocated $5 million in his proposed budget for 2017 for I&I mitigation grants. Councilmember Holden expressed concern that more grant money would be given to communities that were behind on I&I than those communities that are working on the issue. Metropolitan Council Member McCarthy stated there is a task force looking into it now and money will be allocated according to what the legislature directs them to do. Metropolitan Council Senior Planner Wojchik noted that Arden Hills is in the Livable Communities Act program. Communities must adopt goals for life cycle housing to be involved. Arden Hills has negotiated for the current cycle. The Innovative Storm Water grant was launched last year. The City would need to partner with the Rice Creek Watershed District for that grant. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION—FEBRUARY 21, 2017 3 Metropolitan Council Senior Planner Wojchik discussed the comprehensive planning process and timeframes. There is a new handbook available to assist the cities. He said the ten year planning cycle for the comprehensive plan begins with the census and plans are due by December 31, 2018. Mayor Grant requested the formula for grant funding. Metropolitan Council Member McCarthy stated they will provide that information at a later date. She commented that the Metropolitan Council will continue to assist the City and Council with any questions they may have on grant funding or the comprehensive plan. B. 2040 COMPREHENSIVE PLAN Senior Planner Matthew Bachler noted that the City Council discussed their goals for the 2040 Comprehensive Plan at works sessions in May and July 2016. They will be treating the 2040 plan as an update to the 2030 plan. WSB submitted a proposal for the work on the plan. There is a required 6 month review process so the plan should be completed by end of May 2018. The WSB proposal would have the plan completed by March 2018. WSB's total project budget is $131,050. The requested action is for the Council to review the WSB proposal and authorize staff to negotiate a contract with WSB to be brought to Council at the March 13, 2017 meeting and not issue an RFP. Costs for other cities were discussed. Councilmember McClung felt an RFP should be issued and see what other bids may come in. Mayor Grant agreed. He feels there is some value in keeping the plan with WSB being as we have a working relationship with them now. Interim City Planner Eric Zweber mentioned that there are some items in the WSB proposal that are not required by the Metropolitan Council. Economic Development and Redevelopment, Local Parks and Trails and the extra Land Use and Housing items in Section II are not required. Senior Planner Bachler stated that these were additional items that he chose to include as areas of potential concern that the City Council may wish to address, but the items could be removed to potentially reduce the cost of the proposal. Councilmember Holmes suggested we have WSB remove the items not required, and submit a new proposal instead of issuing an RFP. Public Works Director/City Engineer Sue Polka noted that the surface water management plan is due to Rice Creek Watershed District by January 2018 and the DNR water supply plan is due in October, both of which are a part of the Comprehensive Plan. Interim City Planner Zweber said WSB can come back with a minimum dollar amount and an ala carte' list and the council can choose those things they wish to do. Mayor Grant instructed staff to slim down the proposal to the required items, remove items that are being funded elsewhere, and have the new proposal available at the March 13 Council meeting. C. 2017 TRAIL PROJECTS—ENGINEERING SERVICES ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION—FEBRUARY 21, 2017 4 Public Works Director/City Engineer Polka stated she would not go into a lot of detail due to previous discussions. The estimated total costs for the three proposed trails is about $1.7 million. There is $1.9 million identified in the CIP. As a note, the Old Snelling Trail preliminary design reimbursement is $800,000 so there will be very little left to split between the City and County for that portion of the trail project. The Old Snelling/E2 Watermain Loop cost will depend on if they can do directional drilling or not. The WSB total design/construction services would be about $50,000 less than originally thought. A topographic survey is needed to complete the feasibility study/preliminary design. Mayor Grant asked if the work would be done in 2017 on the Old Snelling trail, with Council approval. Public Works Director/City Engineer Polka stated that if they want to move forward with the Watermain Loop they would have to get going on that shortly, but may not be able to pave the trail this year. If they were to do the trail only it could be completed this year. She recommended they do both the Old Snelling trail and the Watermain Loop at the same time. Mayor Grant suggested they move forward with the feasibility study on the trails that need it and start work on the remainder. Public Works Director/City Engineer Polka suggested that they get all the plans and approvals complete and go out for bids next January. She asked if they would like staff to get started on the final design for the Old Snelling Trail from County Rd E to Bethel? Councilmember McClung noted that the proposed preliminary design for Cty Rd E2 trail, Old Snelling trail from Bethel to E2 and the Watermain loop will be presented at the March 13 Council meeting and the final design for the Old Snelling trail from Cty Rd E to Bethel. D. TCAAP COUNTY RESOLUTION Mayor Grant said there was a 4 page legal document outlining the State statue,joint powers and County charter and how they do/don't work together. Councilmember Holden wanted more clarification on the 3% or 10% deviation on parks, and if it was per park or per zone. Senior Planner Bachler said it is a 3%reduction in area per park. Councilmember Holden asked when they make changes according to the 4 page document, does a comprehensive plan change have to come to the Council? Senior Planner Bachler stated that any amendment to the TCCAP Redevelopment Code would require City Council approval. He noted that depending on the nature of the amendment, a Comprehensive Plan Amendment may also be required. Mayor Grant said he feels this document is merely enabling Commissioners Hoffman and Ortega to be able to approve something which normally a commissioner would not be able to approve. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION—FEBRUARY 21, 2017 5 Councilmember Holden said she would also like to discuss how grants are split. Councilmember McClung felt we should check with our attorney to see how we would cover Chair Wicklund if an issue arises. 2. COUNCIL COMMENTS AND STAFF UPDATES NONE ADJOURN Mayor Grant adjourned the City Council Work Session at 7:21 p.m. Joldghj Trauba David Grant Deputy Clerk Mayor