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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC 08-13-2001 . . . CITY OF ARDEN HILLS, MINNESOTA REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING AUGUST 13, 2001 7:30 P.M. - ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, Acting Mayor David Grant called to order the regular City Council meeting at 7:36 p.m. Present: Acting Mayor David Grant, Councilmembers Beverly Aplikowski, Gregg Larson, and Lois Rem. Absent: Mayor Dennis Probst. Also present were City Administrator, Joe Lynch; City Engineer, Greg Brown, BRW; Jerry Filla, City Attorney; Interim Public Works Director and Parks & Recreation Director, Thomas Moore and Recording Secretary, Nancy Czajkowski. APPROVAL OF MEETING AGENDA MOTION: Councilmember Aplikowski moved and Councilmember Larson seconded a motion to adopt the agenda for the August 13, 2001, regular City Council meeting. The motion carried unanimously (4-0). APPROVAL OF MINUTES A. July 9, 2001 Regular Council Meeting, Amendment to Adopted Minutes MOTION: Councilmember Aplikowski moved and Councilmember Larson seconded a motion to approve the July 9, 2001 Regular Council Meeting, Amendment to Adopted Minutes. The motion carried unanimously (4-0). CONSENT CALENDAR A. Claims and Payroll MOTION: Councilmember Larson moved and Councilmember Aplikowski seconded a motion to approve the Consent Calendar and authorize execution of all necessary documents contained therein. The motion carried unanimously (4-0). PUBLIC COMMENTS Acting Mayor Grant invited those present to come forward and address the Council on any items not already on the agenda. No public comments were made. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL - AUGUST 13,2001 2 . UNFINISHED AND NEW BUSINESS A. Briggs & Morgan, Presbyterian Homes Bond Issue Mr. Lynch explained that he was contacted by Briggs and Morgan in anticipation of an attempt to have the City of Arden Hills be the issuing city for a bond issue for Presbyterian Homes. He stated the bonds would be used for capital improvements for their Arden Hills facility and their Bloomington facility. Mr. Mark Meyer, of Presbyterian Homes, stated they had contemplated a five million-dollar bond issue. He noted most of that amount was spent here in Arden Hills. He added another $1.5 million would pay themselves back for the cooperative unit in Bloomington. He stated they are attempting to restore their cash position. He noted the last $2 million would be for future improvements. He added the banks had qualified the bond. Mr. Lynch stated the bank qualification was necessary because the city has historically issued less than $10 million in debt annually. He noted this does count against the city's ability to issue debt for that year. He added the city had not issued that much in a single year. Ms. Jenny Grain, of Briggs & Morgan, stated the only concern would be if the expectation would be that the city would be going to issue more than $10 million in bonds in one year. . Mr. Lynch stated this would be risk free and cost free. He noted Presbyterian Homes would agree to pay the legal and bond counsel costs. He added it did not affect the city's debt rating or credit. He stated it was not backed by the full faith and credit of the City of Arden Hill. He noted they would still need to hold a public hearing, and follow the normal procedures so there would be a time commitment. Councilmember Grant asked about the advantages for Presbyterian Homes. Mr. Meyer responded this allows the bonds to be issued on a tax -exempt basis, so they had a lower interest rate. Councilmember Rem stated they did this in 1999 so there should be documentation and explanations available. Ms. Grain stated they should have a bond transcript. Mr. Meyer stated they did a $25 million bond issue in 1999. He noted there had been two such issues since he had been with the company. . Mr. Lynch stated the city was already a bank-qualified community. He noted this matter was brought before the Council to determine if the Council was interested enough to set the public hearing to decide this issue. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL - AUGUST 13,2001 3 . Ms. Grain stated Presbyterian Homes would like to close the deal by the end of September so the best date for the public hearing would be the September 10, 2001. Councilmember Larson stated he had no problem supporting this, but thought they should have had something in the packet. Councilmember Rem concurred. Councilmember Grant stated the City was not issuing or backing the bonds. He noted this was procedural. He asked if the city would appear as a named party to provide tax-exempt status. He stated this would support the community. Ms. Grain stated the city would be the issuer. She noted Presbyterian Homes' corporate headquarters was here in Arden Hills. Mr. Meyer stated the bonds would be non-recourse to the city. Ms. Grain stated the last two pages of her sample information were the notice that would appear in the paper. MOTION: Councilmember Rem moved and Councilmember Aplikowski seconded a motion to set the public hearing for September 10,2001 to consider a) the proposal of Presbyterian Homes Bloomington Care Center, Inc. that the city finance the projects described by the issuance of revenue obligations and b) the adoption of a housing program with respect to the housing projects described in the sample notice. The motion carried unanimously (4-0). . B. Pay Request #5, Gridor Construction, Lift Station #8 Mr. Brown explained the request for Pay Estimate # 5. He stated the project had been completed. He noted the work that was left was to make the lift station work more efficiently. He added the work was fairly minor so they would still retain 2% of the total project cost. MOTION: Councilmember Larson moved and Councilmember Aplikowski seconded a motion to approve Pay Request #5 from Gridor Construction, in the amount of $17,190.36 as recommended by Staff. The motion carried unanimously (4-0). C. City Hall Construction Project 1. City Hall Furniture Recommendation Mr. Lynch explained the original bid for city hall only included signage for the restrooms and exits. He stated they were trying to make decisions for signage for the public to identify rooms. He showed a sample of the signage for the conference rooms, community rooms, and staff area rooms. He stated there would be a total of 25 signs. . Councilmember Grant asked about the vault. Mr. Lynch responded it was used for records that needed to be maintained permanently. He stated it was a fireproofed room. Councilmember ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL - AUGUST 13,2001 4 . Grant suggested that perhaps another name would be appropriate. He noted one suggestion would be" Document Storage". He added he had an aversion to the name "vault". MOTION: Councilmember Larson moved and Councilmember Aplikowski seconded a motion to approve sign quotation in the amount of$1,078.00, which includes all 25 signs listed in the staff report, as recommended by staff. The motion carried unanimously (4-0). ADMINISTRATOR COMMENTS A. City Planner Position Mr. Lynch explained they had reached a tentative agreement with Mr. Aaron Parrish for the City Planner position. He stated the start date would be August 27,2001. He noted the candidate was formerly with the City of Mounds View. Mr. Lynch stated the City Hall waterproofing system was either not installed properly or failed during the backfill process. He noted it was collecting water. He added he had a meeting with the contractor. He stated the contractor would dig around the foundation, remove the faulty system, install a new system, and backfill the area. He noted the work would delay the completion of the parking lot and the move-in date. He added that after tomorrow's meeting he would have more information. . Councilmember Grant asked about the water line for Mounds View High School. Mr. Lynch responded they would core drill in the city's existing easement so the school would have the water supply and pressure it needed. He stated they would continue to discuss the easement with the landowners. He noted the owners had yet to name a figure. He added the owners felt the core drill would entitle them to have compensation. Councilmember Grant asked if this was a trench-less procedure with no disruption to the landscaping. Mr. Lynch responded in the affirmative. Councilmember Rem asked about keeping the easement clear and adding fencing. Mr. Lynch responded the school district had agreed to fence off the end of it. Councilmember Rem asked about changes to the existing landscaping. Mr. Lynch responded the homeowner could retain the original landscaping. COUNCIL COMMENTS . Councilmember Larson asked that given the change in plans regarding the drainage problem was it still their intention to have the dedication of City Hall and associated activities at the time they had originally discussed. Mr. Lynch responded they could not have the dedication on September 29,2001. He stated they would not have a finished parking lot or landscaping. He noted they should try for the October date. . . . ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL - AUGUST 13,2001 5 Councilmember Aplikowski stated the change to October 15 should be publicized. Mr. Lynch stated that at the meeting with the contractor tomorrow he would find out more information. Councilmember Aplikowski stated it would be a three-day event. She noted the business lunch would be Friday, the banquet would be Saturday evening and the open house would be on Sunday. She noted her concern that the minutes do not reflect what actually takes place at the council meetings. She stated the building would have better audio, but she did not like the abbreviated minutes. She noted she finds them hard to live with. Councilmember Rem stated the newsletter deadline was Wednesday August 15,2001. She noted she had been asked to do an article on the status of City Hall with a front-page article about the dedication. She added she would check with staff on an update. Councilmember Grant asked about the cancellation of the Operations and Finance Committee meeting. Mr. Lynch responded the Chairman of the committee canceled it. Councilmember Grant asked about the repaving efforts underway. Mr. Lynch responded they were all Ramsey County projects. He stated the project started before the date city staff was told it would start. He noted County Road E-2 had been milled, and a layer of sealcoat had been applied. He added Hamline Avenue was nearly complete. He stated Old Highway 10 was complete from County Road E to Lake Valentine Road, and New Brighton Road from County Road E-2 to County Road E. He noted they were not supposed to start until this week. He added they have discussed the poor communication with the county. ADJOURN MOTION: Councilmember Larson moved and Councilmember Rem seconded a motion to adjourn the meeting at 8 :20 p.m. The motion carried unanimously (4-0). MU- David Grant Acting Mayor '-.. ,/ Jo Lynch ty Administrator NOTICE OF MEETINGS The next Council Meeting will be held Monday, August 27,2001 at 7:30 p.m. at the Arden Hills Council chambers.