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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC 01-23-2006 . , I ~ ~~HILLS Approved: February 27, 2006 CITY OF ARDEN HILLS, MINNESOTA CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION MONDAY, JANUARY 23, 2006, 5:00 P.M. CITY HALL COUNCIL CHAMBERS, 1245 WEST HIGHWAY 96 Call To Order Mayor Aplikowski called the meeting to order at 5:00 PM, Present: Mayor Aplikowski, Councilmembers: Gregg Larson, David Grant, and Brenda Holden Absent: None Staff present: City Administrator, Michelle Wolfe; Finance Director, Murtuza Siddiqui; Assistant to the City Administrator, Schawn Johnson; Operations and Maintenance Director, Tom Moore; Community Development Director, Karen Barton; Civil Engineer, Kris Giga; and URS Engineer, Greg Brown PCII5 Year CIP Discussion City Administrator Michelle Wolfe provided the City Council with an overview of the PCI ratings, lift station bids, and water tower discussion for the work session, Originally, City staff had anticipated discussing the five year CIP plan at this meeting, After Finance Director Murtuza Siddiqui completed a detailed analysis of the financial impacts on the City with the proposed five year capital improvement plan it was determined that the proposed plan was not financially feasible for the City at this time, Therefore, City staff will continue to work on drafting a CIP that is financially feasible for the City and will bring it back to the City Council for further discussion at a future work session meeting, Operations and Maintenance Director Tom Moore provided the City Council with an historical overview of the PCI process, From July 11th to July 25'\ 2005, Good Pointe Technologies conducted a PCI rating analysis of the City's streets, A copy of the final report was sent to the Operations and Maintenance Director and URS Engineering, URS compiled the PCI data and created a spread sheet with a historical overview of the PCI ratings for the different streets in Arden Hills, City staff will use the PCI information in aiding its decision making process regarding future Pavement Management Projects (PMP) , Councilmember Holden asked if the PCI study was completed in a similar fashion to what URS has done in past years, URS Engineer Greg Brown stated that that the PCI ratings were conducted in a similar manner. . , , City Council Work Session Meeting January 23, 2006 2 City Administrator Michelle Wolfe noted that the URS compared three years worth of data and created a list of recommend PMP projects for the future, The proposed projects would be subject to available funding, City Administrator Wolfe also mentioned that there are software programs available that conduct financial analysis on proposed projects, Councilmember Holden asked what are the standards that the City should follow when recommending seal coating, overlays, and/or street reconstruction improvements, Mr, Greg Brown said that there are many different thoughts on what the standards should be and that it may be good for the City to reevaluate its philosophy regarding road repairs, City Administrator Wolfe said that the city may have to take a step back and review its philosophy regarding street improvements or repairs, This may be necessary to determine future improvement priorities for the City, Councilmember Holden asked if City staff has a list of streets that have poor soil or sub-grade bases, URS Engineer Greg Brown said that City staff has an idea which areas have poor soils and sub- grades, but soil borings are still necessary to determine the soil make-up underneath the street. Councilmember Grant asked if City staff was seeking City Council approval ofthe PCI ratings, City Administrator Wolfe said that City staff would just like to discuss the PCI process at this time and answer any questions that the City Council may have on this topic, City Administrator Wolfe said that it is her understanding that the goal of the City should be to focus its efforts on mill and overlays and try to protect the City's streets before they become a reconstruction candidate, Councilmember Larson stated that the City should focus its efforts on reconstructing City streets that were properly constructed and have the necessary sub-base, City Administrator Wolfe suggested that the City examine a common sense approach where each street is reviewed on its own merits, Councilmember Grant asked what the cost would be for the proposed 10 year CIP, Finance Director Murtuza Siddqui said that the projected cost would be roughly $10 million dollars, Mayor Aplikowski asked if the City bonded for these projects what would the effect be on the City, . , , City Council Work Session Meeting January 23, 2006 3 Finance Director Siddiqui said that the City would need to have cash on hand to borrow money for the future, City Administrator Wolfe noted that currently the City only receives 50% back from the property owners for assessments and there is currently no dedicated revenue source for the utility funds, Mayor Aplikowski said that the City may have to evaluate other funding mechanisms in the future in order to find the necessary revenue needed to cover the increasing cost for street improvements, Councilmember Holden requested that City staff provide the City Council with the overall cost for each project. Councilmember Larson asked if City staff is seeking permission from the City Council to rework the existing crp plan, City Administrator Wolfe said that City staff will reevaluate the financial aspect of our current crp projects in order to determine what projects are obtainable with our current financial situation, Councilmember Larson said that he is not opposed to discussing the bonding option for street improvements, but he believes that the Ridgewood Neighborhood project should proceed as planned for 2006, City Administrator Wolfe said that City staff is not comfortable at this time to make a project recommendation to the City Council. The plans and specifications for this project were recently approved, but changes can be made in the future, Councilmember Holden agreed that the Ridgewood Neighborhood should proceed as planned, but she thinks that the residents are more concerned about water quality and storm water run-off then the condition of the streets, Councilmember Grant said that he doesn't believe that the City should consider bonding for street improvements, City Administrator Wolfe said that City staff will provide the City Council with options to consider in the future regarding funding mechanisms for street projects, Mayor Aplikowski requested that City Councilmembers keep an open mind to the different funding mechanisms that are available to the City for street improvements, 2006 Lift Station Proiect-Bid Results Operations and Maintenance Director Tom Moore provided the City Council with an overview of the bids for refurbishing four lift stations, The projected project cost for the four lift stations . I I City Council Work Session Meeting January 23, 2006 4 is $655,000, At this time, City staff is recommending that the City not proceed with refurbishing four lift stations, City staffwill need additional time to evaluate the proposals and review budget consideration for replacing two lift stations, City Administrator Michelle Wolfe also noted that City staff needs time to evaluate the financial risk to the City if the lift stations are not refurbished at this time, Mr, Tom Moore noted that the remaining four lift stations are considered low volume flow stations, City Administrator Wolfe said that it may be beneficial for the City to hold off on this project and bid all four lift stations again in two years, URS Engineer Greg Brown stated on economy of scale, each of the four remaining sites are very similar in size and topography, Councilmember Larson suggested that City staffrequest that the low bidder extend its offer for a period of time, City staffwill seek an extension of the bid proposal and continue researching the risks to the City ifthe lift stations are not refurbished at this time, Water Tower Repair Report Operations and Maintenance Director Tom Moore stated that the City is not required to complete any major repairs on the water tower at this time, A number of the minor recommended repairs can be completed in-house, The water tower report states that no major repairs are expected for the current two-three year time frame, Councilmember Grant requested that City staff handle the grading, fencing, and over flow pipe grading repairs in-house, Councilmember Larson suggested that a 10 foot high fence not be installed around the water tower. Councilmember Holden asked if the water tower vent should be replaced at this time, Operations and Maintenance Director Tom Moore said that he is not comfortable with having O&M staff members complete the vent installation and will have the City's engineering team research the possibility of having an outside vendor complete the repair and installation, Councilmember Holden suggested that the City bill the cell phone company for causing the corrosion damage to the water tower, It may be a possibility for the City to recoup some of these costs, City staff will look into this possibility further. - , . City Council Work Session Meeting January 23, 2006 5 1-35W Corridor Coalition Discussion City Administrator Wolfe noted that during the 2006 budget discussion, City Council discussed the possibility of re-joining the l-35W Corridor Coalition, It was noted that the Coalition spent 2005 redefining its purpose and scope of work, As a result of that effort, the fees have been reduced for member cities in 2006, The proposed cost for the City of Arden Hills to join the coalition in 2006 is $5,340,00, If there is a consensus amongst the City Councilmember's, this item will be placed on a future City Council meeting agenda for formal action, Councilmember Holden asked how long the I-35W Corridor Coalition has been in existence, Mayor Aplikowski noted that the organization has been in existence for approximately ten years, City Administrator Wolfe stated the I-35W Corridor Coalition has also been involved with the creation of a GIS database, Housing Resource Center, and transportation studies for the communities within the corridor. Mayor Aplikowski said that originally the I-35W Task Force was created to share technology and discuss different development opportunities amongst the neighboring communities, Eventually the group turned into a lobbying organization for the I-35W members, The focus of the group has expanded somewhat to include the Cities of Blaine, Circle Pines, and Lexington, She is concerned that the City will not be a part of the regional transportation discussion if they are not members of the I-35W coalition, It is important that we be involved in regional transportation discussions affecting the City of Arden Hills, Councilmember Larson stated that we live in a much larger community then Arden Hills, and the issues regarding the I-35W Corridor Coalition affect a number of different communities and it is important that the City has a seat at the table to discuss these issues and represent the needs of the community, Councilmember Grant said that the TCAAP property will determine whether or not the City is a major player at these meetings, Mayor Aplikowski disagreed with Councilmember's Grant statement and said that the City is currently an important player due to its location, The City must have a place at this table to express its concerns regarding 35W, Councilmember Larson requested that this item not be brought to a City Council meeting for further action until there is a consensus amongst the group, Mayor Aplikiowski requested a ten minute recess, (7: 1 0 PM) Fee Schedule: False Alarm Fees The meeting was called to order at 7:20 PM, - - , City Council Work Session Meeting January 23, 2006 6 Mayor Aplikowski noted that a copy of the 1-35W Corridor Coalition by-laws will be given to Councilmember Holden for review, This item will be tabled until a future date and time yet to be determined, Assistant to the City Administrator Schawn Johnson provided the City Council with an over view of the statistical information regarding false alarms, City staff conducted an overview of the false alarm fees that are currently being charged by different communities throughout the metropolitan area, City staff also compiled a spread sheet with a breakdown of the 2005 fire call log for the City of Arden Hills, In 2005, the City of Arden Hills had 252 fire calls, Approximately 102 fire calls were deemed false alarms by the Lake Johanna Fire Department. Fire Chief Tim Boehlke noted that it is very difficult for the fire department to determine whether or not a false alarm call was intentional. Each year, the Lake Johanna Fire Department budgets for 30 false alarms per contract city, Members of the City Council recommended that City staff work with the Lake Johanna Fire Department to create criteria tor determining whether or not a false alarm is intentional. Also, City staff will work with the Lake Johanna Fire Department and Ramsey County Sheriffs Department contract Cities to discuss the ditferent fee schedules and how to create a unified false alarm policy for the member cities, Celebratin!! Arden Hills Caterin!!-RFP Assistant to the City Administrator Schawn Johnson provided an overview of the Request for Proposal process for the City Council. After further discussion, the City Council requested that the proposal submitted by Chuck Wagon Catering Company be placed on the January 30th City Council meeting agenda for further action, 2006 City Conncil-City Staff Retreat City Administrator Wolfe provided the City Council with an overview of the proposed retreat dates for February and March, After further discussion, members of the Ci~ Council agreed to have the City Council/City staff retreat the weekend of March lOth-March II , The retreat hours have been tentatively set for: . March loth_12:00 PM to 6:00 PM . March Ilth_8:30 AM to 1:00 PM Members of the City Council requested that the Mayor and City Administrator finalize the details for the retreat by selecting a retreat facilitator and the meeting location, Fraud Case: City Response to Residents City Administrator Michelle Wolfe provided the City Council with a draft letter for the residents of Arden Hills explaining the recent fraud case at City Hall. Councilmember Holden expressed concern that the City should not send this letter out to the public at this time, - - , City Council Work Session Meeting January 23, 2006 7 Councilmember Larson said that he feels a letter should be sent to the residents of Arden Hills explaining the fraud case, He believes that it is good for the residents to know that the City is protecting its assets and that insurance money is available to cover some of the loss, Councilmember Holden suggested that the Ramsey County attorney review this letter before it is sent out to the public, City Administrator Wolfe stated that a Ramsey County trial attorney has not yet been assigned to this case, Also, the City is a part of a trust fund through the League of Minnesota Cities that is used to offset loses that are due to embezzlement. Mayor Aplikowski asked if this letter should be inserted into the newsletter, Councilmember Larson said that he is comfortable with having the letter inserted into the newsletter. Councilmember Grant requested that the letter be reviewed by a Ramsey County attorney, Councilmember Larson stated that he would send out a personnel letter to the residents, if the City Council is not willing to send out a letter at this time, City Administrator Wolfe said that the City's communication consultant recommended that this information be placed on the City's web page, Councilmember Larson said that media consultants are about damage control. It is not surprising that the consultant would recommend not sending out a mass letter to the residents, Councilmember Wolfe will have a member of the Ramsey County Attorney's Office review the proposed letter. Councilmember Holden recommended that the following changes be made to the letter: . Bullet points be removed; . "Un-paid leave" be added to the fourth paragraph of the second sentence; . The word "alleged" be added to the first sentence ofthe seventh paragraph, City Council Vacancy Members of the City Council continued discussions regarding the appointment of a new City Councilmember. The discussion had been tabled from Friday, January 20th interviews, The Council members were briefed by Administrator Wolfe on the procedures should they fail to reach consensus, or ifthere was a tie vote, The Council discussed the application materials and the results of the candidate interviews, The Councilmember's agreed to nominate Vincent Pellegrin for the vacant position and directed staff to prepare an agenda item for the January 30, 2006 meeting, Mayor Aplikowski stated that she would personally contact all of the candidates to inform them ofthe Council's decision, ~ - , City Council Work Session Meeting January 23, 2006 8 Council Reports Couucilmember Graut . No report Couneilmember Holden . No report, Couueilmember Larson . No report Mayor Aplikowski . No report The meeting adjourned at 10:10 PM Respectfully submitted by Schawn p, Johnson Beverly Aplikowski, MAYOR Michelle A, Wolfe, CITY ADMINISTRATOR