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HomeMy WebLinkAbout04-08-24-WSMayor: Address: David GrantIt 1245 W Highway 96 Arden Hills MN 55112 -A HILLS Councilmembers: EN Phone: Brenda Holden 651-792-7800 Emily Rousseau City Council Work Session Tena Monson Website: Tom Fabel Agenda www.cityofardenhills.org April 8, 2024 5:30 p.m. City Hall City Vision Arden Hills is a strong community that values its unique environmental setting, strong residential neighborhoods, vital business community, well -maintained infrastructure, fiscal soundness, and our long-standing tradition as a desirable City in which to live, work, and play. Members of the public may attend a meeting in -person at City Hall or they may view the meeting remotely on the City's website using the below link. Meetings are also broadcast on Cable Channel 16 for those that live in Arden Hills. https://cityofardenhills.orci/320/Watch-Cit -- Meetings This meeting will be streamed live on local Cable Channel 16 and available for playback on our website. CALL TO ORDER 1. PUBLIC INQUIRIES/INFORMATIONAL This is an opportunity for citizens to respectfully bring to the Council's attention any items which are relevant to the City. In addressing the Council, you must first state your name and address for the record. Comments shall be limited to three (3) minutes or less. Written documents or other materials should be handed to the City Clerk for distribution to the Council prior to or during the meeting. Council will generally not respond at the same meeting where an issue is initially raised by a member of the public but the Council may refer the issue to staff for further research and possible report or action at a future Council meeting. 2. RESPONSE TO PUBLIC INQUIRIES 3. AGENDA ITEMS 3.A. City Administrator Performance Review (Closed Per Minn. Stat. 13D.05, Subd. 3 (A)) Lisa Sorensen, Sorensen Consulting Documents: MEMO.PDF 3.B. Food Truck Discussion Julie Hanson, Assistant to the City Administrator/City Clerk Documents: MEMO.PDF 3.C. Lake Johanna Fire Department Discussion Dave Perrault, City Administrator Documents: MEMO.PDF ATTACHMENT A.PDF 3.D. Deer Management Dave Perrault, City Administrator Documents: MEMO.PDF ATTACHMENT A.PDF 3.E. Legislative Priorities And Processes Dave Perrault, City Administrator Documents: MEMO.PDF 3.F. Committee/Commission Liaison Roles And Responsibilities Dave Perrault, City Administrator Documents: MEMO.PDF 3.G. Proclamation Policy Dave Perrault, City Administrator Documents: MEMO.PDF 3.H. Council Tracker Dave Perrault, City Administrator Documents: MEMO.PDF 4. COUNCIL/STAFF COMMENTS ADJOURN AGENDA ITEM — 3A ,--4 DEN HILLS MEMORANDUM DATE: April 8, 2024 TO: Honorable Mayor and City Councilmembers Dave Perrault, City Administrator FROM: Julie Hanson, Assistant to the City Administrator/City Clerk SUBJECT: City Administrator Performance Evaluation (Closed Per Minn. Stat. 13D.05, Subd. 3(a)) Budgeted Amount: Actual Amount: Funding Source: N/A N/A N/A The City Council will conduct the six -year performance review of City Administrator Dave Perrault at the April 8, 2024 worksession, this portion of the meeting will be closed per State Statute. Dr. Lisa Sorensen, Sorensen Consulting, will be present to provide a report to the City Council. Page 1 of 1 AGENDA ITEM — 3B ,-ARZEN HILLS MEMORANDUM DATE: April 8, 2024 TO: Honorable Mayor and City Councilmembers Dave Perrault, City Administrator FROM: Julie Hanson, Assistant to the City Administrator/City Clerk SUBJECT: Food Truck Licensing Discussion Budgeted Amount: Actual Amount: Funding Source: N/A N/A N/A Council Should Consider Council should discuss if it wishes to make any changes to the current requirements in City Code related to mobile food units/food truck licensing. Background City licensing process The City adopted an ordinance regarding licensing food trucks/mobile food units in December of 2017, with the first licenses being issued in 2018. There are currently two licensing options: temporary ($30) good for up to 7 days in a calendar year or annual ($100) good for 8 or more days in a calendar year. As part of the licensing process, vendors must provide the City's application, a certificate of insurance, a copy of their State of MN Dept. of Health license, MN Dept. of Agriculture license, or Ramsey County Public Health license, written permission from the property owner at which they will be operating (whether a commercial or residential property), and the fee. The Lake Johanna Fire Marshal is contacted to perform an inspection and will work directly with the applicant for such (though many times the Fire Marshal will accept photographs of certain items in lieu of an in -person inspection). A list of licensed vendors is continually updated and published on our website. At the time of licensing, vendors are told (and it is noted on their license) that they are to notify the City of future dates of operation. Unfortunately, this step rarely occurs, making it challenging to track the actual number of days a vendor operates once they've obtained their license. The below table illustrates by year, the number of licenses issued and revenue: Year Temporary License Annual License Total Revenue 2023 40 4 44 $1,600 2422 46 2 48 $1,580 2021 24 0 24 $720 2424 4 0 4 $120 2019 25 0 25 $750 2018 26 0 25 $780 Page 1 of 3 Generally, the majority of vendors operate at commercial locations such as Boston Scientific, which has recurring food trucks from June through September, the University of Northwestern, Land O' Lakes, Valentine Hills Elementary, and North Heights Lutheran Church. Occasionally a one-off company or a resident may have a food truck for an event. Resident Permit In 2022 the City implemented a no -fee resident food truck permit limiting residential properties to having 2 events per calendar year, not to exceed 3 days in duration (similar to garage sales). In 2022 there were 4 resident permits issued and in 2023 there were 3 resident permits issued. Ramsey County Public Health Last fall staff reached out to the MN Department of Health to learn more about its licensing process and was directed to Ramsey County. A representative with Ramsey County stated that at some point after COVID began, their licensing changed due to new delegated authority agreements with the MN Dept. of Health and MN Dept. of Agriculture and that only the cities of Maplewood and St. Paul are exempt from these requirements. This means vendors operating in any Ramsey County city other than Maplewood or St. Paul must obtain a license from Ramsey County even if they possess a MN Dept. of Health license. The only exception to that requirement is if the vendor possesses a license with the MN Dept. of Agriculture, then no Ramsey County license is required. The Ramsey County representative agreed she wasn't aware that anyone had contacted the cities to inform us about the change. She also noted there is a licensing task force comprised of State and County representatives from all over Minnesota working toward streamlining the license process. The goal is to have all food truck licensing eventually managed by one entity (the State), but she said this could be a few years away. Other Cities and Food Trucks Regarding Arden Hills' neighboring cities: Shoreview, Roseville, and New Brighton do not license or register food trucks. Little Canada requires a permit only if the truck is going to operate for at least two weeks in a single location. Mounds View licenses food trucks. The City Council may wish to discuss the following options for vendor licensing and resident permits: Vendor Licensing 1. Eliminating the requirement of a City issued license for food trucks/mobile food units since vendors are required to have a Ramsey County license (or in lieu of that, a license with the MN Dept. of Agriculture). In this scenario, the City and staff would communicate this requirement to our businesses and residents, noting the food truck vendors are subject to City Code requirements (no parking in the right-of-way or street, etc.) and any violations would be addressed via code enforcement action. 2. Combining the two licenses we have currently (temporary and annual) into one license with one fee, since tracking the number of days of operation is challenging. 3. Implementing a no -fee registration versus a paid license as a means of tracking where the vendors are operating in the city. 4. Making no change and leaving the current requirements as is. Please note any of the above scenarios will require some type of amendment to City Code in order to reference the requirement of the Ramsey County license, regardless. Page 2 of 3 Resident Permit • Eliminating the requirement of the no -fee resident permit. • Making no change and leaving the current requirement as is. Following Council direction, staff will proceed appropriately as soon as possible. Budget Impact Revenue from food truck licensing is referenced in the table on page 1 of this memo and varies each year, with the average the last two years at approximately $1,590 per year. Attachments N/A Page 3 of 3 AGENDA ITEM — 3C -t1 DEN HILLS MEMORANDUM DATE: April 8, 2024 TO: Honorable Mayor and City Councilmembers FROM: Dave Perrault, City Administrator SUBJECT: Lake Johanna Fire Department Station Update Budgeted Amount: Actual Amount: Funding Source: N/A N/A N/A Council Should Consider Council will receive an update on the Lake Johanna Fire Department Station planning. Backl4round For the past few years, the Lake Johanna Fire Department (LJFD) has been in discussions with its three cities, Arden Hills, North Oaks, and Shoreview, on a new fire station. This project was the result of a needs study done in 2018 (link to needs study: https://cilyofardenhills.org/DocumentCenterNiew/3538/LJFD-Needs-Assessment?bidld=). The study identified a piece of property on Pine Tree Drive in Arden Hills as the ideal location. Since the study, the department and the cities have acquired the land and completed the design of the station. The department and cities also worked cooperatively to receive $6.6 million in State funding for the station construction. The board is recommending the station be constructed in 2025, and next steps are to figure out how to finance the station. Early estimates of the station in 2018 put the cost around $13 million, today the cost is estimated to be between $20 million and $25 million in total. Currently, Arden Hills' share of expenses for LJFD are approximately 25 percent; the City's share of the project would be the total, less State funding, and we would be responsible for 25 percent of the costs. For example, if the station were to cost $23 million, the cities would be responsible for $16.4 million and the AH share would be $4.1 million. In order to unlock the State money, the cities need to decide and have secured their share of the project. It is anticipated that bonding will be need for the project, and the question remains how will those bonds be structured i.e. one city bonding for the entire project and the other cities agreeing to pay that city their portion of the debt service or each city individually bonding for their share. The advantage of having one city bond for the project is it would lower initial issuance cost of the bonds, the cities could take advantage of a low interest rate (Arden Hills and Shoreview are both AAA rated), and it would streamline the debt service payment coming from one City for the bonding versus three. The City Attorney has looked at how an agreement could Page 1 of 2 be drafted to facilitate one City doing the bonding, it is attached under Attachment A, she believes the agreement is relatively simple and is comfortable with the process. This term sheet assumes Arden Hills would be the City providing the bonding. The question being posed to the City Council this evening is if it would entertain bonding for the project and having an agreement with the other three cities to pay us their portion of the debt service annually. Tonight is not committing the City to this financing method, but if the City is willing to consider it, the Council Liaison and Staff will report back to the board for future funding discussions. It should also be noted that Shoreview has proposed, and Staff would recommend, using a phased debt service option for the station, which would have lower payments at the beginning and slightly higher payments later on. This would result in approximately $125,000 more from Arden Hills over the 20-year life of the bond. Budget Impact The City has been slowly stepping up its increases to its Public Safety Capital Fund to support the upcoming construction of the station and avoid large levy spikes; however, the estimated cost for the new station has increased more than anticipated and the City will need to continue to make adjustments to its funding sources, note funding sources are going to be considered by the Council at a future date. It is anticipated that the Public Capital Safety Fund will need an approximate $230,000 more on an annual basis starting in 2025 to meet its ongoing obligations. Attachment Attachment A: Draft Term Sheet for Bonding Page 2 of 2 Attachment A Term Sheet for Financing New Fire Station, Lake Johanna Fire Department 1. Parties: City of Arden Hills, City of North Oaks, City of Shoreview, Lake Johanna Fire Department Headquarters Board 2. Project: construction of fire station and department headquarters on property located in the City of Arden Hills (the "Project") 3. Financing Details: $6,600,000 available in State bonding, with remaining funding to be provided by the Cities, pursuant to the terms of the Joint Powers Agreement dated , 2021, which created the Lake Johanna Fire Department Headquarters Joint Powers Board (the "Headquarters JPA") 4. Obligations of Lake Johanna Fire Department Headquarters Joint Powers Board: provide property where the Project will be constructed 5. Obligations of City of Arden Hills: a. Comply with all terms and conditions of the HeadquartersNJPA b. Amend City CIP to include the Project c. Enter into repayment agreement with North Oaks and Shoreview d. Issue Capital Improvement Bonds for full project amount over $6,600,000, as provided in Section 2.3 of the Headquarters JPA e. Comply with all terms and conditions related to repayment of Capital Improvement Bonds 6. Obligations of City of North Oaks: a. Comply with all terms and conditions of the Headquarters JPA b. Amend City CIP to include the Project c. Enter into repayment agreement with Arden Hills and Shoreview d. Provide General Obligation note to Arden Hills for repayment of North Oaks' proportional share of Capital Improvement Bonds issued by the City of Arden Hills e. Make annual payments to Arden Hills for North Oaks' proportional share, pursuant to the formula provided in Section 2.2 of the Headquarters JPA 7. Obligations of City of Shoreview: a. Comply with all terms and conditions of the Headquarters JPA b. Amend City CIP to include the Project c. Enter into repayment agreement with Arden Hills and North Oaks d. Provide General Obligation note to Arden Hills for repayment of Shoreview's proportional share of Capital Improvement Bonds issued by the City of Arden Hills e. Make annual payments to Arden Hills for North Oaks' proportional share, pursuant to the formula provided in Section 2.2 of the Headquarters JPA 229983v1 AGENDA ITEM — 3D -t1 DEN HILLS MEMORANDUM DATE: April 8, 2024 TO: Honorable Mayor and City Councilmembers FROM: Dave Perrault, City Administrator SUBJECT: Deer Management Budgeted Amount: Actual Amount: Funding Source: N/A N/A N/A Council Should Consider Council should consider providing direction on actively pursuing deer management. Backl4round Council has previously requested to discuss deer management at a worksession, this is being brought forward this evening as there may be a timing issue with this year's deer season. Council is being asked if it wants to take a more active role in deer management. Currently, the DNR does not do active deer management in Arden Hills, and our Animal Control Officer only responds to wildlife that may be sick or injured or poses a threat to public safety. This issue can be contentious as many members of the public enjoy having an active deer population, while some view the deer as a nuisance to property, this can be especially true as the deer population grows. The City itself does not monitor the deer population, so it can be difficult to gauge the population size. We do know that other cities do take a more proactive role in deer management, as does Ramsey County. In Attachment A, you'll find the results of an aerial survey that Ramsey County did in 2021, it notes the survey areas along with the number of deer reported. Based on preliminary information, if the City wants to take a more active role in deer management, it has two options the first being partnering with the USDA and the other being partnering with the Metro Bowhunters Resources Base (MBRB). The USDA option is used by North Oaks and Roseville and has been used by Ramsey County in the past. This option offers a variety of deer control techniques from traps to sharpshooters. Depending on the methods chosen, the USDA option comes with a price tag, North Oaks pays over $50,000 for their sharpshooting option. Staff does not know the cost of the other options, Page 1 of 2 but should Council be interested Staff can reach out for more information. It appears sharpshooting is the most commonly used technique for cities. The MBRB option is a local non-profit that uses qualified bow hunters for specially permitted hunts within a City. This option does not cost the City any money. The link to the program can be found below. https://www.mbrb.orp/ In either option, Council would need to designate the time and place for the hunts, which generally happen in the fall and would be limited to City parks. This evening's discussion is intended to be the first of more discussions to come on deer management. Should the Council want to learn more about these programs or have Staff look into a specific one and bring back more information Council could direct Staff to do so; or Council could decide it does not want to pursue active deer management. Here is a link to Roseville's resident information on their USDA deer management program: https://www.cityofroseville.com/3745/2022-2023-Deer-Management eg ment Here is a link to Brooklyn Park's MBRB info for last year's hunt: https://www.brooklynpark. org/community-story/deer-management-in-brooklyn-park/ Budget Impact There currently is no budget for deer management, and any budget impact would depend on what option the City decided to pursue. Attachment Attachment A: 2021 County Aerial Deer Survey Page 2 of 2 Attachment A Attachment 3. 2021 Aerial Deer Survey Map _ 2 _ 14*1 22 i te1f--n HiII_ k- �1 �5 10 12 8 .. 5 0 i 12 18' 4 010 '� .� �,�. . • . 4 e� �rr LL r r i.... 1 Al: i fit. r i 0 10i n. ,ti_.._.. F �.._� O 2 w 6 S i • 0 2 � 3 1 0 ;z' ` e 404 22400 4 0 i 0 5 Ocb 7 1 0 3 O 14 3 0 10 r.101"aAlfo"6 4 ®12 O i I 11A 3�D5 0 '7. O 3 Ramsey County Deer Survey 2021 447 deer total in survey areas 2122 - 2123 ® Deer2021 Z� Survey Areas 2021 N 0 1 2 4 Miles 2020 Ramsey County Cooperative Deer Management Program E1 AGENDA ITEM — 3E �i -t1 DEN HILLS MEMORANDUM DATE: April 8, 2024 TO: Honorable Mayor and City Councilmembers FROM: Dave Perrault, City Administrator SUBJECT: Legislative Priorities and Processes Budgeted Amount: Actual Amount: N/A Council Should Consider N/A Funding Source: N/A Council should discuss how to approach legislative priorities and the processes for future funding requests. Background The City Council should discuss how to approach future legislative priorities. For 2024, the City has two bonding requests for consideration, these were worked on by different Councilmembers and Staff. This legislative session is expected to end late Spring. While it isn't clear if or when the State will begin accepting funding requests for 2025 consideration, that could also happen in the spring, this past year MMB requested projects be submitted in June. Should requests open again, the Council may want to be prepared with identified requests or have the process ready for how to work to get projects submitted. Prior to this year's requests, Staff worked with members of the Council on existing capital projects, such as the Lexington Avenue Watermain or the County Road E Utility replacement. Council may want to consider planned capital projects, such as, water meter replacement ($1,500,000) or water/sewer forcemain work ($240,000). Council could also consider projects that we have discussed, but may be waiting on a funding source, such as, the Old Highway 10 Trail ($2,800,000). Should Council want to refine this process, Council should direct how it wants to approach the process, either by designating one or two Councilmembers to work with Staff to bring back a recommendation for Council consideration or discussing the priorities with the full Council at a worksession. Council may also want to consider outside assistance to guide Staff and the Council through the process, i.e. utilizing a lobbyist. Budget Impact N/A Attachment N/A Page 1 of 1 AGENDA ITEM — 3F -t1 DEN HILLS MEMORANDUM DATE: April 8, 2024 TO: Honorable Mayor and City Councilmembers FROM: Dave Perrault, City Administrator SUBJECT: Committee/Commission Liaison Roles and Responsibilities Budgeted Amount: Actual Amount: Funding Source: N/A N/A N/A Council Should Consider Council should discuss the role of the Committee/Commission Liaisons. Background As part of the earlier LMCIT discussion, Council requested to discuss the roles and responsibilities of Council Liaisons. The role of the liaison has not been formally discussed in the past, below is the applicable ordinance that pertains to the liaisons. Subd. 14 Council Liaison. The City Council shall appoint a council member to serve as a liaison to each Board, Committee, Commission or other Appointed Body. Council may want to discuss how it defines the liaison role, possible expectations and if a formal policy needs to be approved and/or ordinance changes need to be made. As part of the previous discussion, Council also discussed adding formal reports from Council Liaisons to meeting agendas; however, this was put on hold pending a discussion on what the expectations are regarding updates. Council may also want to discuss this and direct Staff on moving forward. Budget Impact N/A Attachment N/A Page 1 of 1 AGENDA ITEM — 3G -t1 DEN HILLS MEMORANDUM DATE: April 8, 2024 TO: Honorable Mayor and City Councilmembers FROM: Dave Perrault, City Administrator SUBJECT: Proclamation Policy Budgeted Amount: Actual Amount: Funding Source: N/A N/A N/A Council Should Consider Council should discuss if it wants to create a policy on proclamations. Background In 2023, Council discussed creating a proclamation policy, at the time it chose to wait on creating a policy. In the past, the Council has generally only considered proclamations regarding Public Works Week, Police Week, and Night to Unite. An additional proclamation regarding fair housing was passed last year. Should Council want to create a formal policy on proclamations it should discuss how they are brought forward, do all requested proclamations receive consideration, is there any type of discussion or vetting done by the entire Council prior to consideration, what happens if the entire Council is not supportive? Some possible direction is below: • Proclamations need to be brought forward for consideration by a City Councilmember for discussion at a work session (this could conflict with how Council sets their agenda) • Proclamations need to have full Council support to be brought forward for approval Budget Impact N/A Attachment N/A Page 1 of 1 AGENDA ITEM — 3H ,-ARZEN HILLS MEMORANDUM DATE: April 8, 2024 TO: Honorable Mayor and City Councilmembers FROM: Dave Perrault, City Administrator SUBJECT: Council Tracker Update Budgeted Amount: Actual Amount: Funding Source: N/A N/A N/A Council Should Consider The Council should provide further direction on items presented on the Council Request Tracker. Background City Council will receive a verbal update on items the Council has previously directed staff to research and/or bring forward. Discussion N/A Budget Impact N/A Attachments N/A Page 1 of 1