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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10-19-2020-WS It -A I�EN_ HILLS Appro\,ed: CITY OF ARDEN HILLS, MINNESOTA CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION OCTOBER 19,2020 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 meeting at 5:00 p.m. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic this meeting was held virtually. Present via Telephone: Mayor David Grant, Councilmembers Brenda Holden, Fran Holmes, Dave McClung and Steve Scott Absent: None Also present: City Administrator Dave Perrault, Finance Director Gayle Bauman, Public Works Director/City Engineer Todd Blomstrom, Community Development Manager/City Planner Mike Mrosla, Associate Planner Joe Hartmann, Recreation Programmer Joe Vaughan and Deputy City Clerk Jolene Trauba Also present via telephone: Kyle Axtell, Rice Creek Watershed District Project Manager 1. AGENDA ITEMS A. Rice Creek Watershed District (RCWD) Ramsey County Ditch No.4 Kyle Axtell, Rice Creek Watershed District Project Manager explained the Rice Creek Watershed District is proposing improvements to Ramsey County Ditch No. 4 (RCD 4) which is a drainage system located within Roseville, Falcon Heights and Arden Hills. A very small portion of the ditch runs through the southwest corner of Arden Hills and drains into Lake Johanna. He is requesting a resolution from the Council allowing them to proceed with the improvements for this project and also for Ditch Nos. 3 and 5 which they hope to improve in three to five years. Arden Hills cost for RCD 4 would be minimal at $266.52 that would be charged in 2021. The improvements would include replacing the ditch with a pipe. Mayor Grant asked if more water would drain into Lake Johanna. Mr. Axtell replied that the run off rate and volume of water flow would mimic what is happening today and would actually provide a slight decrease in 100-year flood levels. He noted that as Rosedale has redeveloped and they have installed underground water treatments. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION—OCTOBER 19, 2020 2 Councilmember Scott asked if there would be any disruption to Arden Hills streets. Mr. Axtell said no, the project area is entirely in the city of Roseville. Councilmember Holden asked if there would be a change in water volume considering the development area in Roseville currently has no impervious surfaces. Mr. Axtell responded that there are impervious surfaces and some gravel on the existing site. The stormwater management rules require that they decrease the runoff rate to 80% of existing. There will be stormwater ponds on the site. Councilmember Holmes asked for more explanation of future plans and the permission they are asking for. Mr. Axtell said they are asking for a resolution to allow Rice Creek Watershed District to proceed with financing drainage projects that would be mostly in Roseville and St. Anthony. There are no specifics at this time. But before a project proceeds there would be a public hearing process. Mayor Grant asked if the water flow would jeopardize Lake Josephine. Mr. Axtell said no, Lake Josephine has a higher elevation than Lake Johanna. Councilmember Holden felt staff should bring a resolution forward to a regular Council meeting. Councilmember McClung said if were to go on consent he would pull it for more discussion. He is unclear on supporting a future project. Mayor Grant instructed staff to put it on the next meeting as new business, and requested a map showing the ditches. Mr. Axtell noted if they would like the resolution to only include Ditch No. 4 at this time, they would accept that. B. Public Input Regarding the Keeping of Chickens Community Development Manager/City Planner Mrosla stated that at its September 21, 2020 Work Session, the City Council discussed public engagement and feedback options in regards to the keeping of backyard chickens. Council directed staff to create an online survey to gauge resident support. The survey launched on Monday, October 5 and is open until November 5, 2020. So far there have been 541 responses. Council also discussed having a public hearing so staff is looking for direction. Councilmember Holden asked if it would go to the Planning Commission first if they were changing the ordinance. Community Development Manager/City Planner Mrosla said it would and they would have two public hearings, one at the Planning Commission meeting and one with City Council. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION—OCTOBER 19, 2020 3 Councilmember Holden proposed to do that instead of having another separate public hearing. Councilmember McClung said he would agree with that as long as they were moving forward with changes. If they decide not to make changes to the ordinance he would want to have a public hearing. Councilmember Holden felt they should wait for the survey results to come in before they decide. After discussion regarding items on the November work session, Mayor Grant instructed staff to add chicken survey results to the November work session. C. Recreation Program Discussion Finance Director Bauman stated that staff was requested to provide information on Recreation Programs related to the percentage of costs being covered by revenues. At the January 21 work session, staff was directed to meet with FPAC to look at all the factors related to Recreation Programs and develop a recommendation for Council. The first meeting with FPAC was in February and a significant amount of information was reviewed at this meeting. Concern was raised over the increase in the allocation of full-time personnel costs to Recreation Programs beginning in 2015. FPAC requested that city staff review the job descriptions and report back on where the allocations should be based on current workload. FPAC met again on August 6 via Zoom. An approximate estimate of time spent on different job duties by the Recreation Coordinator and Recreation Programmer was provided by the Public Works Director. It was noted that the allocation currently being used was Recreation Coordinator, 90% Recreation and 10% Building, and the Recreation Programmer was 100% Recreation. The detailed breakdown showed the actual allocation should be Recreation Coordinator: 45%Recreation, 55% Parks, and Recreation Programmer: 80%Recreation, 20%Parks. Finance Director Bauman noted that applying the more accurate allocation of wages to the 2020 Budget was shown on Attachment A. This more accurate allocation of wages is also being used to prepare the 2021 Budget. These full-time wages are part of indirect costs, not direct costs. FPAC now felt they had a better understanding of the costs of programming and allocation of staff time. The committee came to a consensus that a range of 95% - 105% was an acceptable level for coverage of direct costs by program revenues but felt the council needed to make the decision on indirect costs. Finance Director Bauman said unlike street plowing or public safety, there is no requirement for cities to offer recreation programs, but FPAC members felt the community would be negatively impacted for not maintaining some level of parks and recreation programs. FPAC felt these opportunities bring communities together as participants get to know each other and build connections. A comment was made that putting tax dollars toward parks and recreation was along the same lines as tax dollars going towards schools. It may not be utilized by all, but the community as a whole benefit from it. FPAC felt that Council needed to decide how much taxpayer money, or discretionary dollars, they wanted to put into Recreation Programs as a policy decision for the community. One extreme would be to have programs pay for themselves. The other extreme would be for city taxes to cover all costs. The answer is somewhere in between. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION—OCTOBER 19, 2020 4 There doesn't appear to be much room to increase fees as you will lose participation. You need to find the sweet spot where you charge enough to maximize revenue but not too much where you scare off participation. The committee wants to see the user charges kept at a high enough level that meets with the approval of the majority of users and utilize grants and scholarships through the Arden Hills Foundation to assist with costs for those that can't afford to participate. Finance Director Bauman stated the Net Cost line from Attachment A represents the amount of taxpayer dollars being utilized toward recreation programs. It ranges from $96,607 to $184,550 for the years 2009 to 2019. The current 2021 estimate is $145,550. The cost factor having the biggest impact on this number is full time employee wages that can vary from year to year. Finance Director Bauman said items for the City Council to consider include: • Is the range of 95% - 105% an acceptable level of coverage of direct costs by program revenues? • Do you want to look at coordinating with other cities for any of our adult programs? • What programs do you want to make available and what user charges will the market support to run them? • Is there an amount of taxpayer dollars the council is comfortable with for allocating toward recreation programs? Councilmember Holden wondered what categories go into the 55% for Parks for the Program Coordinator. Finance Director Bauman explained how she split up the percentages. She also said Recreation is all the programs that are done through the Rec program brochure; the programs offered, revenue collected, supplies purchased and other charges directly related to those programs. Councilmember Holmes felt staff did a nice job of summarizing what the FPAC came up with. The committee felt the direct cost of the programs should be covered by the direct expenses so as to break even and staff salaries are overhead and not covered. Program costs to residents have to be competitive but staff costs wouldn't be able to be covered with that revenue. She felt they need to decide if they want to devote two full time people and their expenses to the Park and Rec program. Councilmember Holden thought maybe they should have one full-time year-round and add one part-time person in the summer. Mayor Grant said they could also have a full time and part time person year-round. City Administrator Perrault suggested this could be something the Personnel Committee could discuss and bring back to Council. Councilmember Holmes said she'd like to hear Public Works Director/City Engineer Blomstrom's thoughts as the supervisor of the department. Public Works Director/City Engineer Blomstrom stated historically staffing has been between 1.25 to 2 FTEs. He characterized the recreation program as generally needing two full-time employees at certain times during the year, such as managing spring and summer programs. One ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION— OCTOBER 19, 2020 5 full-time employee could potentially manage the recreation program during the winter season. Projecting demand for future programs is also difficult as there have been changes in recreation over the last ten years. For example, softball has declined in some communities and held steady in others. Arden Hills staff, along with other communities, are trying to forecast how much recreation demand there will be in the future. Finance Director Bauman explained that anytime Public Works staff was working in the parks it was coded to Parks Maintenance, not Recreation. Councilmember Holden thought they should possibly look at this again in the spring because of the uncertainty of COVID-19. Councilmember McClung felt he wasn't sure they can come up with an answer now because of unknow variables. He thought it was probably not the best thing to have a full two FTEs in this area but he wasn't sure what the right mix is. Councilmember Holmes said they have always struggled with whether they need two people. Regardless of what happens with COVID they probably need two people in the summer but not in the winter. She felt there are other issues that could be looked at prior to the ending of COVID. Mayor Grant agreed in general with the comments and the idea of putting it back to the Personnel Committee to look at. He asked if the 95-105% range recommended for FPAC was an acceptable level of coverage of direct costs by program revenue. After further discussion, Council agreed that 95-105% was acceptable. Mayor Grant asked if they wanted to look at coordinating with other cities for any of the adult programs. Council agreed they would like to continue coordinating with other cities. Mayor Grant directed staff to add Parks and Recreation staffing to the January or February Personnel Committee meeting. D. Purchasing Policy Update Finance Director Bauman stated the City's Purchasing Policy was last updated in 2014. Updates are needed because Minnesota Statute contract limits have increased and are also requiring local governments to have a policy on electronic funds transfers. Also needed is information related to Cooperative Purchasing and Environmental Purchasing. An original draft of the policy was distributed to FPAC members earlier this year for any comments they might have on the proposed changes. The committee members didn't have much experience with this type of policy but felt it was more comprehensive and flowed better than the current policy in place. A comment was made regarding the spending limits on page 3. FPAC felt the limits were a little low. Staff concurs with this assessment and would recommend increasing the $7,500 amount throughout the policy to $10,000 and replacing the tables on pages 3 and 11 highlighted in yellow, with the new tables written in red. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION—OCTOBER 19, 2020 6 Finance Director Bauman said this is a total rewrite of the Purchasing Policy for the City. It is hard to identify all of the changes being requested,but the major ones are: • Include information on Cooperative Purchasing(Attachment B page 6). • Include information on Environmental Purchasing(Attachment B page 7). • Include policy on Electronic Funds Transfers (Attachment B page 9). • Request increasing the $7,500 amount throughout the policy with $10,000 (highlighted in yellow throughout Attachment B). • Request replacing the reference tables on pages 3 and 11 highlighted in yellow, with the new tables written in red. Staff is requesting feedback on the proposed changes prior to bringing a new Purchasing Policy to a future Council meeting for approval. Councilmember Holmes asked if the increases to $10,000 were in the State policy or that was at the City's discretion. Finance Director Bauman said it was a City discretion and that she had reviewed other city's policies and $10,000 was a common amount. Councilmember Holmes wondered about the section that says Reimbursement to Employees, No Quotations Necessary. Finance Director Bauman responded that was where there was a mileage reimbursement or had to use their own credit card to make a purchase and needed to submit an expense report for something they paid for out of their own pocket. Councilmember Holmes asked if they should have in the policy that even when they go with the lowest bid we have also checked on the quality of work and felt the lowest bid was the best they could have. Councilmember Scott suggested using language saying the best value bid would be accepted. Councilmember Holmes said if they go with a bid that isn't the lowest they get an explanation from staff,but if they go with the lowest bid there isn't an explanation. Mayor Grant said he's noticed they've been told it would be the lowest responsible bidder or qualified bidder because they were scored. Discussion continued regarding responsible and qualified bidders. Councilmember Holden commented that she is open to raising the purchasing limit to $10,000. She said she'd like to get more than two quotes for$175,000 bids. Mayor Grant felt 3 would be a good minimum for$25,000 - $174, 999. After discussion it was decided to change the chart to say two or more quotes for $10,000 — $49,999, and three or more quotes for$50,000 - $174,999. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION—OCTOBER 19, 2020 7 Mayor Grant felt the $10,000 authorization limit for the City Administrator seemed too high but he was OK to go with it, and up to $5,000 for Department Directors. But he would like the unbudgeted amount to stay. Councilmember Scott would take out the unbudgeted amounts. Councilmember McClung was fine with the way staff had drafted it, and felt the unbudgeted amounts weren't necessary. Councilmember Holmes agreed. Councilmember Holden was OK either way. E. Hazelnut Park Warming House and Parking Lot Public Works Director/City Engineer Blomstrom stated the first item involves the insurance settlement for the warming house at Hazelnut Park that was lost to a structure fire in 2018. The League of Minnesota Cities Insurance Trust has asked if the City wishes to take a cash settlement for the structure loss and closeout the insurance claim. The total estimated payout is $31,461.86 based on the depreciated value of the loss in 2018, as outlined in Attachment B. The City solicited bids for replacement of the warming house structure in early 2019. Pricing ranged from $34,600 to $62,600, but did not include replacement of the footings and concrete slab for the structure. The low quote was provided by a company that is no longer in business. Staff solicited updated quotes this year, including replacement of the footings and concrete slab, and received a price of$60,560 as shown on Attachment C. The temporary portable warming house has been placed at the site during the winter months since the structure loss. The warming house rental cost for the 2019/2020 season was $4,070.00. There are 3 questions for the Council: 1. Does the City Council wish to accept the insurance settlement and close the insurance claim? 2. Does the Council wish to continue to have the structure replacement included in the CIP for 2022 as previously directed? 3. Should the portable warming house be placed this winter for the rink attendants, given that warming houses will not be open to the public due to COVID-19? City Administrator Perrault said if the City takes the cash payout the money is in hand but they will lose approximately 20%. Public Works Director/City Engineer Blomstrom noted staff has been in talks with ICWC. The City would be required to have the footings and pad poured, prepare plans for the structure and provide all the materials. There could potentially be architectural expenses but ICWC has indicated they are willing to construct the building in the future. City Administrator Perrault reminded the Council that the building project was pushed out to 2022 in the CIP. He said the question tonight is if the Council wants to have a temporary warming house in light of COVID and whether or not they'd like to accept the cash insurance payout for a reduced amount now or get the full payout in 2022 when the project moves forward. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION—OCTOBER 19, 2020 8 Mayor Grant asked the Council for input. Councilmember Scott leaned toward taking the money now and continuing to have a rental building for then next couple of years. Councilmember McClung agreed. Councilmember Holmes wanted to wait but to get a warming house even if it were just for the attendants. Councilmember Holden also wanted to wait. Mayor Grant wanted to wait for the insurance settlement but get a temporary warming house for the rink attendants. Direction to staff was to wait to take the insurance settlement but to get a temporary warming house for the rink attendants this season. Public Works Director/City Engineer Blomstrom said the City Council previously discussed options for reconstruction of the parking lot at Hazelnut Park during the September 19, 2019 work session and subsequent work sessions regarding the Capital Improvement Program updates. The parking lot adjacent to Hazelnut Park is located on property owned by Gathering Place Lutheran Church, Trinity Lutheran of Lake Johanna and is available for public use under a Maintenance Agreement and Joint Use Agreement with the Church as provided in Attachment D. The parking lot pavement is significantly deteriorated and can no longer be cost effectively maintained by seal coating and occasional patching. Representatives from the Church informed City staff during discussions last year and more recently last month that the Church does not have financial resources to contribute toward reconstruction of the parking lot. Public Works Director/City Engineer Blomstrom stated the existing parking lot currently has approximately 139 spaces, exceeding the minimum parking demand for the Church which is approximately 50 spaces based on City code requirements. Recent discussions with the Church have focused on a potential reduction in the size of the parking lot as shown on Attachment E in order to reduce the overall cost and potentially generate additional green space for the park. That reduction is about 14,000 square feet and would eliminate 32 spaces from the parking lot. The Church board may be supportive of that proposal if in exchange the City would reconstruct the full parking lot and assume future pavement maintenance. Councilmember Holden felt the underlying property owner needs to give up more than 32 spaces in order for the City to spend the money to repave the lot. Mayor Grant said he can't go along with spending$400,000 for 1/3 acre. Public Works Director/City Engineer Blomstrom clarified that the proposal would have the 14000 square feet conveyed to the City to own as park land. Councilmember Holmes thought maybe the parking lot should be 50 spaces, the City could repave that section and the rest would be park land. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION— OCTOBER 19, 2020 9 Community Development Manager/City Planner Mrosla added that code required one space for every 3 seats, the site is currently overparked at 1:1. Fifty stalls would support 150 seats. Councilmember Holden felt the parking lot should be divided in half, the City should get the green space and repave the lot that was left. Councilmember Scott agreed. Councilmember McClung agreed with half of the lot or the Church can live with the condition of the lot. Public Works Director/City Engineer Blomstrom said he would discuss downsizing the lot by approximately 50% with the Church, with the space that is being removed being dedicated to the City as park land. F. Planning Commission Checklist Community Development Manager/City Planner Mrosla stated that at a previous meeting, the City Council directed staff to create a checklist to assist Planning Commissioners in their review of planning cases. Staff and Councilmember Holmes reviewed the checklist document and determined that the document should be more of a high-level document that could evolve as time goes on. Staff met the Commission Liaison Councilmember Scott to discuss the document further. Councilmember Scott recommended adding information on zoning approvals. Staff added information on the different types of zoning permits and approvals. Staff also added questions that the Commissioners should ask themselves when reviewing submittal documents and plans. Normally when a new Commissioner comes on they meet with staff to go over the Comprehensive Plan, go through plans etc. but they were set back this year with COVID. Community Development Manager/City Planner Mrosla said he is happy with how the document turned out and wasn't able to find a similar document at other cities. Additionally, staff will start offering Planning Commissioners monthly training opportunities, some from the League of Minnesota Cities and some from outside vendors that can be purchased. Community Development Manager/City Planner Mrosla also noted that Chair Gehrig will be stepping down from the Commission at the end of his term. He's done a great job but wants to give someone else the opportunity. Councilmember Holden requested that a materials board be listed as a requirement on plans to be reviewed. Otherwise the document looks good. Councilmember Holmes suggested leaving the materials boards at City Hall so they could be looked at in person. She also wondered if they could have a joint meeting and have someone talk to them about variances. Community Development Manager/City Planner Mrosla agreed that was a good idea. The City Attorney or someone from the League of Minnesota Cities could talk about variances. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION—OCTOBER 19, 2020 10 Community Development Manager/City Planner Mrosla said he would develop a policy that the document is issued to Planning Commissioners. G. Comprehensive Plan Official Controls Community Development Manager/City Planner Mrosla stated that once the 2040 Comprehensive Plan is approved the City is required by the Metropolitan Council to amend the official controls (i.e. zoning, subdivision, and other ordinances) to bring the City ordinances into conformance with the Comprehensive Plan. Most of the amendments are minimal and examples were given in the memo. He wondered if the Council want to review red-lines or are they comfortable with it going to the Planning Commission for approval. Councilmember Holden would like to see an electronic copy for informal review. Councilmember Holmes felt all Councilmembers should see the document updates. Community Development Manager/City Planner Mrosla said he could move forward with simple changes in numbers but could come to Council with more detailed sections. Mayor Grant asked for an electronic copy be given to all Councilmembers. Community Development Manager/City Planner Mrosla said he could bring it back to the December work session for further discussion. Mayor Grant said staff could provide the document to Council, Council would provide feedback to staff, it could go on the December work session for discussion and the January Planning Commission meeting. H. Tony Schmidt Park Sidewalk Letter Discussion City Administrator Perrault asked if Council wanted to move forward with drafting a letter to the County Commissioner regarding the sidewalk and crosswalk conditions at Tony Schmidt Park. Councilmember Holden said residents sent a letter to the County Commissioner. Other county parks have sidewalks and safe access to walk to the park and she felt Tony Schmidt Park should be the same. Mayor Grant asked if the letter should come from the Mayor or from all Council. Council agreed that they would all like to sign the letter. Councilmember Scott thought the Sheriff's office could send a letter of support. Mayor Grant said a letter could be drafted by the City Administrator, shared with Council for input and redrafted. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION —OCTOBER 19, 2020 11 I. NYFS Funding Discussion City Administrator Perrault said he wanted to bring this to Council again as there was some level of disagreement on the level of funding they'd like to provide to NYFS in the 2021 budget cycle. CARES funding cannot be used to buy down fixture expenses so he would like to only discuss the 2021 contribution. There are no member cities that do not make an annual contribution. Residency in a member city isn't necessary for counseling but additional programs such as youth diversion, fall clean up, and the senior chore program are reserved for member cities. If Arden Hills lessens its contribution or doesn't contribute it won't stop residents from receiving mental health counseling services. The request for funds for 2021is approximately 14% higher than 2020. The increase could be spread over two years. City Administrator Perrault added they first use insurance money to cover payments, and they rely on other funding sources to cover the gap. Councilmember Holden thought there were other non-profit mental health organizations and she wondered why they support this organization with tax payer dollars but not others. Mayor Grant replied that this organization Arden Hills and other communities created to fill a need. He felt they are worthy of being supported at the full amount. Councilmember Holden said she'd be comfortable with a 50% contribution. Councilmember Scott would be in favor but would like to see the increase spread over two years. Councilmember Holmes said at the last meeting there was a 3-2 split so she felt the decision was already made. Councilmember McClung would support the increase over two years. Mayor Grant would also support that. City Administrator Perrault asked if council would like to contribute CARES money in addition to the other funding. Council agreed to not provide CARES money. J. Council Tracker Mayor Grant encouraged the Council to contact staff if they had specific questions. 2. COUNCIL COMMENTS AND STAFF UPDATES None ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION— OCTOBER 19, 2020 12 ADJOURN Mayor Grant adjourned the City Council Work Session meeting at 8:03 p.m. A40-AA J- 1., .-/— Jo ne Trau David Grant Deputy City Clerk Mayor