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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08-20-18-WS 'It --AIpEN HILLS Approved: September 24, 2018 CITY OF ARDEN HILLS, MINNESOTA CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION AUGUST 20, 2018 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: City Administrator Dave Perrault; Public Works Director/City Engineer Sue Polka; Finance Director Gayle Bauman; City Attorney Joel Jamnik; Stacie Kvilvang, Ehlers &Associates; Communications Coordinator Dawn Skelly; City Clerk Julie Hanson; and Kristin Ackert, Association for Non-Smokers MN Mayor Grant requested items B and A be flipped on the agenda and that Item H be added to address the City's website. 1. AGENDA ITEMS B. Vegetation Removal and Clear Cutting City Attorney Jamnik reviewed a draft Ordinance that would address vegetation removal and clear cutting. He explained the Council should provide further direction on moving forward with potential regulations regarding the proposed Ordinance. Councilmember Holden asked how the proposed Ordinance would assist the City with addressing residents who clear cut on Lake Johanna and then bring a letter to the City after the fact stating the trees were diseased. City Attorney Jamnik commented this would be problematic. He explained the City could require a permit for the removal of trees over a certain number of caliper inches. Councilmember Holmes supported the City requiring reputable tree trimmers having a permit for tree removal. She indicated a license with the City could then be revoked if tree trimmers were ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION—AUGUST 20, 2018 2 not pursuing the proper permits. She expressed concern that the proposed Ordinance currently provided the City with no remedy. Mayor Grant requested the Ordinance have some process in place to allow the City to issue an order for the removal of dead trees. Councilmember Holden requested that if a letter was being sent to the City regarding diseased trees that this be sent from an arborist that is licensed with the City of Arden Hills. She asked what the penalty would be for breaking this Ordinance. City Attorney Jamnik advised this would be a misdemeanor with restitution. A. Tobacco 21 City Clerk Hanson stated the Council previously requested information regarding the Tobacco 21 initiative. Many cities in the metro area are supporting this initiative. Should the Council wish to support the implementation of tobacco restrictions in Arden Hills, an ordinance amendment would be required. Staff would work with Tobacco 21 and the City Attorney should the Council wish to move forward. Kristen Ackert, Association for Non-Smokers of Minnesota, provided the Council with a presentation regarding the Tobacco 21 initiative. She explained that 95% of smokers today began smoking before they were 21 years of age. She stated it was her goal to educate and reduce the number of young people smoking between the ages of 18 and 21. She indicated youth tobacco use was on the rise for the first time in 17 years largely due to e-cigarettes and cigars. She described how getting these products out of the high school environment would have a positive impact on the health of youth long-term. She reported some cities are restricting flavored tobacco to only adults. She reviewed the cost of smoking to the State of Minnesota and discussed how easy it was for youth to get tobacco products. Ms. Ackert commented on the success some communities have had by raising the smoking age to 21 and reviewed studies that show raising the age to 21 would lead to 30,000 fewer youth becoming smokers in Minnesota in the next 15 years. She explained over 300 municipalities and several states have already raised the tobacco age. She indicated reports show that an age change would only impact retailers by 2%to 4% in sales. Councilmember Scott asked how many tobacco licenses the City had. City Clerk Hanson reported Arden Hills had five tobacco license holders. Ms. Ackert explained the military has come out in support of Tobacco 21 and was working towards a tobacco free military. Mayor Grant questioned where students were purchasing the vaping hoods. Ms. Ackert stated these are found online or can be found at smoke shops. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION—AUGUST 20, 2018 3 Councilmember Holmes asked why this was not a State law. Ms. Ackert commented this was introduced at the House and Senate but noted only one hearing was held on this issue. She reported the goal would be to bring this issue up again during the 2019 legislative session. Councilmember McClung stated he had a number of people approach him during National Night Out to ask how the City was going to address the tobacco age. Councilmember Scott indicated he supported the City moving forward with an age change given the fact a number of surrounding communities were also considering a change. Councilmember Holmes explained she also supported an age change along with the requiring flavored tobacco sales to occur only at tobacco shops. Councilmember McClung stated he supported an age change to 21 with restrictions on flavored tobacco to tobacco adults only establishments. Councilmember Holden commented she supported the age change but was still thinking about how to address flavored tobacco. The City Council directed staff to proceed with a tobacco age change as well as restricting the sale of flavored tobacco to adults only tobacco shops. C. Council Tracker Update City Administrator Perrault provided the Council with a Council Tracker Update. Councilmember Holden requested the B-2 zoning requirements be made a priority for staff. Mayor Grant requested resident Vince Pellegrin's concern about Thom Drive be added to the tracker list. He also requested the Ramsey County Sheriff be invited to an upcoming worksession meeting to discuss parking enforcement concerns in the City. D. SLWA Follow Up City Administrator Perrault stated at the August 13, 2018 regular City Council meeting, the City Council directed staff to add the SLWA agreement to the next Work Session. At the July Work Session, the City Council directed City Staff to contact its SLWA representative, and inform them that the City Council will need to authorize all future mailings. SLWA confirmed with City staff that no mailings will be sent without prior authorization by the City Council. SLWA did note they will be beginning the planning process at the end of the month for the fall campaign, but also acknowledged that prior to that campaign the City will need to authorize any mailings. Councilmember Holden was of the opinion the contract with SLWA should be null and void because they had not presented information to the public that was expressed to the City Council. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION—AUGUST 20, 2018 4 She noted tree roots were now included in their coverage. She expressed concern that SLWA had not worked with staff to negate their mistake and feared what mistakes would be made in SLWA's next mailing. Councilmember Holmes agreed SLWA was a concern. She explained the City thought they were acting in good faith on behalf of the residents but noted this had turned into something different altogether. Mayor Grant requested staff investigate the termination clause within the agreement with SLWA. E. Sympathy/Greeting Card Floral Arrangement Policy City Administrator Perrault stated the Council has previously asked City staff to bring forward a policy to address when the City will send out sympathy/greeting cards. The City has also historically sent floral arrangements in certain cases, which has also been added to this policy. Mayor Grant recommended this item go back to the Personnel Committee for further review prior to being addressed by the City Council. F. Preliminary General Fund Budget Finance Director Bauman stated annually, City staff prepares and submits a preliminary budget to the City Council for review and feedback. Staff reviewed the City's preliminary General Fund budget for the 2019 fiscal year. She explained each department provided their respective forecasts for this budget. The proposed 2019 budget is $5,519,250, an increase of$342,494 or 6.6%. For the purpose of this discussion, there is no tax levy increase reflected in the budget. As presented, the General Fund Budget is underfunded by $368,130, with $237,225 of the shortfall being carried over from the 2018 budget and $130,905 from current year projections. This practice is not sustainable in the long term. A tax levy increase of 9.72% would be needed to balance the budget in 2019. Finance Director Bauman explained according to information provided by Ramsey County, the median home value in Arden Hills will increase from $333,800 for 2018 taxes to $346,900 for 2019 taxes, an increase of 3.9%, which is less than the countywide average of 7.4%. The annual impact of different levels of the City levy increase to a median valued home was reviewed with the Council. Staff reviewed the proposed budget in further detail with the Council and asked for comments or questions. Councilmember Holden asked how the City Planner's position had been budgeted for 2019. Finance Director Bauman reported this position had been put into contractual services. She then provided the Council with further information on the Ramsey County Sheriff's 2019 budget and noted they would be adding an investigator for the contract cities. Mayor Grant expressed frustration that the investigator was being added only to the contract cities and stated Ramsey County may no longer be a cost-effective measure for the City of Arden ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION—AUGUST 20, 2018 5 Hills. He indicated he would like to review information from the County on the number of investigations being completed by Sheriff's Department for Arden Hills and the other contract cities. He explained the population of Arden Hills was not on the rise, nor were the crime rate in the City but noted the expense was rising exponentially. Councilmember McClung requested staff invite the Undersheriff in to discuss the price for contract police services in more detail with the Council. Mayor Grant commented on the amount of funds that would need to be transferred in order to balance the budget. He asked if there were any expected large budget increases for 2019. Finance Director Bauman discussed the proposed increases for the two new staff positions. Further discussion ensued regarding the complete budget book. Mayor Grant asked if the Council wanted to address the budget again at a future worksession meeting. City Administrator Perrault commented if the Council wished to hold another worksession meeting to discuss the budget this would occur on September 17. It was noted the Council would have to pass the maximum budget levy in September. Councilmember Holden was of the opinion the budget could move forward as is. Councilmember Scott inquired if staff was recommending a 9.72% levy increase. Finance Director Bauman reported this number was strictly reported to show the Council what the increase would have to be in order to balance the current preliminary budget. She commented further on how permit revenue would assist in balancing the budget in the coming year. Councilmember Holmes stated there was no way the Council would approve a levy over 4.8%. She explained the Council would have to work to reduce the levy from 9.72%to 4.8% or lower. Councilmember Holden requested staff pursue a levy of 4.5%. Councilmember Holmes indicated she could support a levy of 4.8%. Councilmember Scott supported a levy of 4.5%. Mayor Grant suggested the Council go in at a maximum of 4.5%. Councilmember McClung commented he had not decided on a number yet. He stated he would like to see the levy closer to 3.5%. Council consensus was to direct staff to pursue a levy increase options of 3.5%, 4.5% and 5.0% which will be discussed by the Council on September 10. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION—AUGUST 20, 2018 6 G. TCAAP Discussion H. City Administrator Perrault requested the Council discuss the status and elements of the ongoing TCAAP negotiations. He reported Stacie Kvilvang from Ehlers was present to discuss this item with the Council. Stacie Kvilvang, Ehlers & Associates, explained the County was proposing to finance the trunk sewer and water utilities under the spine road. She indicated the County was willing to fund this project which meant the City would not have to bond in order to complete these utility lines. She reported the water tower would cost roughly $5 million and the City would be covering this expense. She provided further comment on the fees the City has incurred to date, which was for planning fees and discussed the fees the City had yet to incur for stormwater ponding, etc. She commented on the benefits and drawbacks from charging SAC and WAC fees when properties within TCAAP are platted. Further discussion ensued regarding the financing and assessments for TCAAP. Ms. Kvilvang summarized the position of the Council stating the City would like to be reimbursed for their costs, City SAC and WAC fees will be charged and the City would be bonding for the water tower, which would be assessed back. H. City Website Communications Coordinator Skelly updated the Council on the City website. She stated the City has not gone through a formal branding process in the past and asked if the Council wanted to consider pursuing this. She noted a resident of Arden Hills was interested in providing the City with graphic design services. She explained she was bringing this to the Council as a revised identity brand, if even on a small scale, could be rolled out with the City's new website. She explained the website upgrade project could be placed on hold for three months to complete the rebranding and that the adjusted timeline would still meet the deadline of completing the upgrade by October of 2019. Mayor Grant questioned what all was involved in the City brand. Communications Coordinator Skelly explained this typically includes external research about stakeholders' perceptions. It could also encompass a revised logo. Councilmember Holden stated she would like to see the City get the website done by January and that the branding issue be addressed prior to the website needing to be revamped again in four or five years. Councilmember McClung commented he did not believe it was a bad thing for the City to pursue new branding. He explained the City's website was in dire need of updates. Councilmember Holmes suggested the branding be considered once TCAAP began to develop. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION—AUGUST 20, 2018 7 Further discussion ensued regarding the City's current logo and the local graphic designer that created the logo. Mayor Grant noted one thing to consider was the fact that the City already had its current logo on all of the City street signs, gateway signs and water towers. He stated he would support the Council reviewing several new logos at a future meeting. Councilmember Holmes was of the opinion the previous graphic designer, Derrek Hames, should be contacted to see if the current logo could be updated for the Arden Hills website. Communications Coordinator Skelly agreed it would be beneficial for her to have a conversation with this graphic designer, who may be able to suggest uses and guidelines of the logo for digital applications. Council directed staff to speak with Derrek Hames and to pursue logo revisions with Arden Hills green and tan. It was noted the City's website was not to be delayed. 2. COUNCIL COMMENTS AND STAFF UPDATES Councilmember Holden asked if the City had reached out to anyone for the Community Development Director position. City Administrator Perrault commented he would have more information regarding this position on August 21. Councilmember Scott stated the PTRC was meeting with members from Beyond the Yellow Ribbon this evening. Mayor Grant encouraged the Council members to not discuss the fact that they were running for the upcoming election from the bench at a City meeting. He explained he would call on City Clerk Hanson to discuss the election. ADJOURN Mayor Grant adjourned the City Council Work Session meeting at 8:17 p.m. a� � ,n)--) Ju e Hanson David Grant City Clerk Mayor