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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC 07-10-2006 . . . ~ ~~HILLS Approved: 7/31/06 CITY OF ARDEN HILLS, MINNESOTA REGULAR CITY COUNCIL MEETING JULY 10, 2006; 7:00 P.M. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, Mayor Beverly Aplikowski called to order the regular City Council meeting at 7:01 p.m. Present: Mayor Beverly Aplikowski, Councilmembers David Grant, Gregg Larson, Brenda Holden, and Vincent Pellegrin. Absent: None. Also present were City Administrator, Michelle Wolfe; ChiefPinancial Officer/Treasurer, Murtuza Siddiqui; Community Development Director, Karen Barton; City Engineer, Kris Giga; Assistant City Administrator, Schawn Johnson; Recreation Program Supervisor, Michelle Olson; and Recording Secretary, Kathleen Altman. 1. APPROVAL OF MEETING AGENDA MOTION: Councilmember Grant moved and Councilmember Holden seconded a motion to approve the meeting agenda as presented. The motion carried unanimously (5-0). 2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES A. June 26, 2006 City Council Meeting B. June 26,2006 Work Session Meeting C. June 19, 2006 Work Session Meeting Councilmember Larson requested the following changes: June 19, 2006 Work Session, Page 6, fourth paragraph from the bottom should read: Councilmember Larson stated that he is . . . ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL - JULY 10, 2006 2 comfortable with Option E and recommends that the City invest some money to improve the drainage issues at Valentine Park to make them more serviceable. MOTION: Councilmember Larson moved and Councilmember Pellegrin seconded a motion to approve the June 26, 2006 City Council Meeting Minutes as presented, the June 26, 2006 Council Work Session Minutes as presented, and the June 19,2006 Work Session Meeting Minutes as amended. The motion carried unanimously (5-0). 3. CONSENT CALENDAR a. Claims and Payroll b. Resolution No. 06-27: Approving St. Katherine's Ukrainian Orthodox Church Charitable Gambling License Renewal Request MOTION: Councilmember Grant moved and Councilmember Larson seconded a motion to approve the Consent Calendar and to authorize execution of all necessary documents contained therein. The motion carried unanimously (5-0). 4. PULLED CONSENT ITEMS None. 5. PUBLIC INOUlRIES/INFORMATIONAL A. Representative Char Samuelson - Legislative Update Representative Char Samuelson thanked the City for their support during her four years as a State Representative. She stated she was not seeking reelection. Mayor Aplikowski thanked Representative Samuelson for serving the community and her availability during the past four years. Mayor Aplikowski welcomed Boy Scout Troop 13 to the Council meeting. David McClung, 4370 Snelling Avenue North, stated there was no opportunity for residents to speak at the last Council meeting regarding the purchase agreement for the old City Hall Maintenance Site. He read from a prepared statement outlining his and other residents' concerns. Councilmember Larson stated he was on the State Board of Assessors and an assessment is an art, not a science. He indicated they had an appraisal on the property and he believed it was a good appraisal. He believed the City was acting on the best information it had available to them ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL - JULY 10, 2006 3 . at that time. He noted if they waited another year, the property value would probably go up agam. Councilmember Holden stated she was not ever sure what was included in the appraisal last year. She stated she disagreed with Councilmember Larson and did not believe last year's appraisal was equal to this appraisal. 6. PUBLIC HEARINGS None. 7. NEW BUSINESS A. Inflow/Infiltration Update Ms. Giga stated the City of Arden Hills was notified by the Metropolitan Council that there is a significant inflow and infiltration (1&1) problem in the City. 1&1 is clear water that makes its way into the sanitary sewer system. Arden Hills' sanitary sewer system flows into a system owned and operated by the Met Council, which ultimately reaches a wastewater treatment plant. She further defined 1&1 by stating infiltration is a result of groundwater entering the sanitary sewer system via cracks in the sewer pipes, leaky joints, or deteriorated manholes. The main source of inflow is stormwater that enters the sanitary system from rain leaders, sump pump discharges or . foundation drains, none of which are supposed to be connected to sanitary sewer lines. Based on current data, the City could face a $500,500 surcharge with Met Council if 1&1 is not reduced. This charge would be paid over five years, starting in 2007. The surcharge would be retrievable if the City spends any money to reduce 1&1. The City could receive a surcharge adjustment by submitting an application for credit for work to be done in 2007. She indicated staff has begun some background work to determine necessary improvements. O&M feels that leaking manholes are a major source ofI&1. Crews have spent time this spring inspecting manholes, filling out manhole reports on the existing conditions and noting needed improvements. City staff has discussed repair methods, and it is anticipated that manhole repairs will begin shortly. Repair work will include placing new seals on the manholes and raising the elevation as needed to prevent water from getting in. She stated staff is also gathering information from past O&M procedures and projects that could be used as to assist in 1&1 reduction as well. Sump pumps have been a common source ofI&I in other cities. When Arden Hills replaced the residential water meters in 1999-2000, sump pumps were also inspected. However, staff is not confident that these inspections were successful in disconnecting all of the sump pumps from the sanitary sewer system. . She stated staff will focus first on repairing/sealing manholes to determine if this is, in fact, the main source of 1&1. If this does not show a reduction in 1&1, staff will continue to evaluate other ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL - JULY 10, 2006 4 . possible sources of 1&1, including illegal sump pump connections. Staff also plans to request surcharge adjustments/credit for work being done to reduce 1&1 in Arden Hills. She stated staff will provide Council with continuous updates after receiving the preliminary surcharge amounts from Met Council and completing more cost estimates for needed improvements. Councilmember Grant inquired if the City would receive a credit. Ms. Giga responded a credit would be applied to the surcharge reduction. Councilmember Holden asked when the next measurement of 1&1 was. Ms. Giga responded the timeframe was from June, 2004 to June 30, 2006. B. Maintenauce Update: Hard Court Plav Areas (i.e.. tennis and basketball courts) Ms. Olson stated the hard court playing areas at Cummings Park, Floral Park, and Royal Hills Park were in need of maintenance. Staff attempted to track the history of all City park hard court play areas and their maintenance history, which has been a difficult task as the records for these courts are very incomplete. She indicated after extensive research, it did not appear any of the basketball courts have been resurfaced since before 1999. Funding was allocated every other year for trail and court . resurfacing. Unfortunately, no funds since 2001 have been used for this purpose. She noted it appeared that up until 1999, the courts were on a five-year resurfacing schedule. However, after 1999, that schedule does not appear to have been followed. It appears the hard court play areas at Floral Park and Royal Hills Park were scheduled to be resurfaced between the years 2001-2003. However, for unknown reasons, it does not appear that they were ever done. These two courts are in very poor shape. The largest issue with these two courts is the surface quality. The surface is deteriorating, which causes the court to be slippery and dangerous. This creates a huge liability for the City. Also, the colors and lines have faded, which has become an eyesore. The two hard court areas that have had resurfacing done since 1999 are: Hazelnut in 1999 and Cummings in 2001. When Cummings was resurfaced in 2001, the contractor did explain in the proposal that foundation cracks would not be permanently fixed by resurfacing. It appears that the tennis courts at Cummings Park should have been completely reconstructed at that time. The resurface was done in June, 2001 and cracks began to reappear in the spring of 2002. She summarized the proposed maintenance/resurfacing schedule and budget considerations. She recommended Council take one ofthe following actions: 1. Amend the 2006 budget by an increase of $11 ,956.00 (lowest bid) for the resurface of both Royal Hills Park and Floral Park hard court play areas. . . . . ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL - JULY 10, 2006 5 2. Amend the 2006 budget by an increase of$5,993.00 (lowest bid) for the resurface of the Floral Park hard court play areas and direct staff to begin the proposed maintenance/resurfacing schedule in 2007. Direct staff to budget both Floral Park and Royal Hills Park hard court play areas in 2007, effectively delaying the proposed maintenance/resurfacing schedule one year. 3. She recommended Council amend the 2006 budget by an increase of$I1,956.00 (lowest bid) for resurfacing the hard court play areas at Floral Park and Royal Hills Park. At a minimum, she believed these two courts should be scheduled for resurfacing in 2007. Councilmember Pellegrin asked ifresurfacing would fix the large cracks to the pavement. Ms. Olsou responded the cracks might not be fixed, but until it was resurfaced, they did not know if the cracks would reappear or not. She indicated even with a reconstruct, they could not guarantee the cracks would not reappear. Councilmember Pellegrin stated he was concerned that resurfacing was not sufficient and that maybe the City should consider reconstructing the two courts. Ms. Olson stated to reconstruct a court, the estimated cost is $20,000 to $25,000. Royal Hills Park has foundational type cracks, similar to Cummings Park. Because Royal Oaks has not had a resurface done in over ten years it is difficult to know how cracks will do with a resurface. We should evaluate the Royal Hills tennis court for one year after the project completion. Councilmember Holden stated she was in shock that these courts had not been resurfaced since the mid 1990's. She asked if the trails were being resurfaced. Ms. Olson responded it appeared that the trails had not been resurfaced and only surface repairs such as crack sealing have been made. Councilmember Holden stated she was not going to vote yes for any more trails, until the trails and structures they presently have were maintained. She asked if they could get a discount if they also did the tennis courts at the same time as Mounds View High School does theirs. Ms. Olsou responded this was a possibility. Councilmember Holden stated she was in favor of fixing the City parks. Mayor Aplikowski noted it had been tile decision of a previous Council to not maintain the tennis courts because they were not being used, but now it appeared this had turned around. Councilmember Grant stated this was an asset that needed to be tracked and maintained on a periodic basis. He stated he wanted to make sure this got into a system and was tracked. He stated he wanted to ensure the vehicles were being tracked also. Mayor Aplikowski stated this was not staffs fault and it was a previous Council's decision not to maintain the tennis courts. Councilmember Grant stated he wanted the information about when Council voted to not maintain the tennis courts. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL - JULY] 0, 2006 6 . Councilmember Larson stated historically this kind of improvement would have come out of the General Fund and not the Parks Fund. Ms. Olson responded in looking back at the history until ]999, the funds were coming out of the Parks Fund and then after ]999 it started coming out of the General Fund. He stated he supported the improvements that would need to be made to resurface the tennis court, but he did not believe this had any effect on the trails. He believed they needed to maintain both the courts and the trails. He stated they needed to find additional sources of revenue for the parks and they did not have a sufficient funding source for the parks and trails at the present time. He indicated the Council needed to have a discussion as to what was going to be paid out of the Park Fund and how additional revenues would be added to that fund. He stated he supported Option 1. MOTION: Councilmember Grant moved and Counci]member Larson seconded a motion to amend the 2006 budget in the amount of $] 1,956.00 for the resurface of the hard court play areas at Floral Park and Royal Hills Park. The motion carried unanimously (5-0). Councilmember Holden asked how would they maintain the parks if the General Fund did not grow also. Council member Larson stated he did not believe it mattered which fund it came out of and what was important was how the City was going to fund the parks. He did not believe the City had a coherent way of how to raise revenue for parks and maintain them. . MOTION: Councilmember Grant moved and Councilmember Larson seconded a motion to take $11,956.00 out of the Genera] Fund. The motion carried unanimously (5-0). MOTION: Counci]member Grant moved and Councilmember Larson seconded a motion to direct staffto come back to Council with their recommendations on how the City should fund the parks. Mayor Aplikowski asked if staff could get this infornlation to Council by the fall. Ms. Wolfe stated she believed tennis courts and basketball courts could have a recommendation by the fall, but the trails would take additional time. MOTION: Councilmember Grant moved and Mayor Aplikowski seconded an amendment to the previous motion to also include trails and other amenities. The motion and amendment carried unanimously (5-0). C. Motion to Direct Staff to Allocate Fundinl! Toward Mounds View School District for Tennis Court Maintenance in 2007 Ms. Olson stated in 1993, the City of Arden Hills donated $25,000 from the Park Fund to District 621 to support the construction of eight tennis courts at Mounds View High School. Since that time, the City of Arden Hills has had the luxury of utilizing the courts every spring and summer for lessons and team tennis leagues. Due to the City's relationship with the district, the . . . . ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL - JULY 10, 2006 7 City has received priority for court time, second only to the school tennis teams. This has been a very nice arrangement for the City's tennis program. She indicated the Athletic Director for Mounds View School District has informed the City the high school tennis courts are going to be scheduled for reconstruction during the summer of 2007. The courts have severe cracks that carmot be resolved with resurfacing; therefore, they will be completely reconstructed. The estimated cost will be approximately $140,000. She requested Council consider allocating funds in the 2007 budget to support the impending high school court reconstruction. She reviewed the budget considerations and requested a motion to direct staff to allocate funds in 2007 to support the reconstruction of the Mounds View High School tennis courts in the amount of $8,750.00, which is approximately half of the price to reconstruct one court. MOTION: Councilmember Larson moved and Councilmember Grant seconded a motion to direct staff to allocate funds in 2007 in ilie amount of$8,750.00 to support the reconstruction of one half of one tennis court at Mounds View High School with funds to come out of the General Fund. The motion carried unanimously (5-0). D. Motion to Approve Parks, Trails. and Facility Naminl!' Guildelines Ms. Olson stated at the January 24, 2005 City Council Work Session, the Parks, Trails, and Recreation Committee (pTRC) asked for direction on the process of naming a trail segment after Governor Elmer L. Andersen. At that time, the City Council advised the PTRC that they would like a Naming Guideline Policy to be established before any official name designation occurs. The PTRC put together a subcommittee to research and draft Naming Guidelines for Parks, Trails, and Recreation Facilities for the City of Arden Hills. The subcommittee looked at policies for the surrounding communities, such as Roseville, Shoreview, St. Paul, and Little Canada. They also researched the policy in Ramsey County. After extensive research, the subcommittee presented a draft of the Parks, Trails, and Recreation Facility Naming Guidelines for the City of Arden Hills to the PTRC at their June 20th meeting. The draft policy was approved by a vote of 8-0. She recommended Council prepare a motion to approve the Parks, Trails, and Recreation Facility Naming Guidelines. Mayor Aplikowski suggested a written guideline for the size of memorial plaques. Councilmember Grant noted memorials could also be for living citizens who have made a significant contribution to society. Ms. Olson stated she would reword that to make it clearer. MOTION: Councilmember Holden moved and Councilmember Pellegrin seconded a motion to approve the Parks, Trails, and Facilities Naming Guidelines. The motion carried unanimously (5-0). ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL - JULY 10, 2006 8 . E. Document Imaging Update Mr. Siddiqui stated the City had been exploring document imaging options for a number of years. Up until recently, the option explored was to purchase high speed imaging equipment and software and to perform all activities in-house by hiring temporary help. This methodology would involve staff researching the process of imaging, learning how best to organize the material in the system, training the temporary person, and supervising the person to ensure quality is being maintained. Staff conservatively estimates this approach to take about six months by hiring one temporary person and assigning an "expert" staff person to oversee fue entire process. Staff was estimating hiring a temporary person at a cost of $15,000 to $20,000. The supervision and oversight function by a City employee would take that individual away from their routine responsibilities. In addition to these issues, the maintenance and obsolescence of the equipment also poses a challenge. He indicated over the past couple of years, a number of businesses have emerged that would take all the historical documents offsite, organize, image, and convert the images on a CD ROM to copy onto the network. He summarized the advantages of document imaging for the Council. He stated staff has met with one of these companies, Cities Digital, to discuss the City's document imaging needs. He indicated before the City of Arden Hills could begin utilizing the document imaging system, the City would have to purchase additional storage capacity, which could be purchased for under $5,000.00. . He stated staff had received a price quote from Cities Digital for the implementation and scanning of the City's historical documents, GIS maps, building plans, financial documents, City Council minutes agenda, and other important document, that must be protected and saved by the City. The estimated cost for completing the entire document imaging project was $53,053.80, plus $5,000 for a high capacity dedicated server. In 2005, the City budgeted $36,000 for beginning the document imaging process. This was primarily the cost for acquiring the software and equipment, excluding labor costs. He noted overall the City had three options: Outsourcing, in-house imaging, or status quo. Outsourcing was estimated to cost $60,000; in-house imaging was estimated to cost $50,000; and status quo would cost nothing. He stated the cost difference between outsourcing and in-house imaging was minimal compared to the risk of organizing the documents incorrectly and taking the existing staff resources away from their routine responsibilities. Also, by outsourcing, the first year of the project it could be completed within a shorter time period. In 2006, staff recommends spending approximately $40,000 on the implementation of this project. In 2007, City staff recommends the completion of the document imaging project by budgeting $20,000 for scanning Finance, City Council, and Election related documents. . ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL - JULY 10, 2006 9 . He indicated the 2006 budget did not have any funds budgeted for this purpose. Funds were budgeted in 2005; however, due to other pending priorities this project was not undertaken. Mr. Siddiqui mentioned that there was a Council discussion about carrying over the funds into 2006. A Council decision was made to amend the budget when the City was prepared to implement this project. A Council action to proceed with this project would require a budget amendment to the general fund in the amount of $40,000. The remaining $20,000 would be budgeted in 2007. He recommended the Council authorize staff to utilize the services proposed by Cities Digital at an estimated cost of $53,000 with an understanding that the project would be divided between two fiscal years and to amend the 2006 General Fund budget in the amount of $40,000.00. Councilmember Grant encouraged Council to fund some of this out of the Cable Fund as it providcd a value as a communication item. Couucilmember Larson stated he agreed the Cable Fund was the appropriate place to finance this project. Councilmember Pellegrin asked if they had also looked at other imaging companies. Mr. Johnson responded Cities Digital did the Roseville imaging and Arden Hills could "piggy back" on Roseville's services. He indicated that the document imaging software and hardware were already set up through the City of Roseville and that it would be difficult for Arden Hills to receive a better deal from other vendors. . MOTION: Councilmember Grant moved and Councilmember Larson seconded a motion to authorize staff to utilize the services proposed by Cities Digital to implement Document Imaging at an estimated cost of $53,000.00, plus an authorization to purchase a server and licensing up to a total amount of $60,000.00. The motion carried unanimously (5-0). MOTION: Councilmember Grant moved and Councilmember Holden seconded a motion to amend the 2006 budget in tile amount of $40,000.00 with the funds to be taken out of the Cable Fund. The motion carried unanimously (5-0). F. Motion to Approve Joint Use A!!reement with Trinitv Lutheran Parkin!! Lot Ms. Wolfe stated in 2003 the City entered into a Joint Use Agreement with Trinity Lutheran of Lake Johanna. This agreement commenced on January 1, 2003 and terminated December 31, 2003. Hazelnut Park is located adjacent to Trinity Lutheran, and the park does not have its own parking lot. Trinity Lutheran has allowed park users to use the church's parking lot. In exchange for this arrangement, the parties entered into a joint use agreement. . She indicated although the agreement technically expired in 2003, staff continued to administer payment to the church in 2004 and 2005. The church recently contacted her about the 2006 payment, which they had not received. . . . ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL - JULY 10, 2006 10 She stated staff felt the terms of the agreement were quite reasonable in exchange for the on- going use of the parking lot. Therefore, in the revised agreement, they left the terms the same with the only change being made in regards to duration. Staff was proposing the new agreement be for five years, unless one of the parties provided required notice of intent to terminate to the other party. She recommended Council approve the Joint Use Agreement for Trinity Lutheran Parking lot effective January I, 2005. MOTION: Councilmember Grant moved and Councilmember Pellegrin seconded a motion to approve the Joint Use Agreement for Trinity Lutheran Parking Lot effective January I, 2005. The motion carried unanimously (5-0). 8. UNFINISHED BUSINESS A. Shoreline Lane Drivewav Repair Update Ms. Giga updated the Council regarding the driveway at 3153 Shoreline Lane. She indicated they had televised the sewer service per Council direction at the June 26, 2006 work session meeting. The video showed some cracks in the sewer service near the street, but not near the garage apron, and therefore, the sewer service does not appear to be the cause of the holes in the garage apron. She indicated since the last time Council discussed this concern, two more holes have appeared. She stated it was her recommendation that staff continue to explore what was causing the holes around the garage apron. Mayor Aplikowski believed this was some form of a washout, which would require someone to do some digging, but she was not sure this was a City issue. Councilmember Larson stated he believed the City had an obligation to look at this as since they had worked in that area, put in the new driveway, and now that driveway was not functioning. He stated the City needed to explore this further and he did not believe they could walk away from this. Councilmember Holden stated they needed to find out why the holes were reoccurring and why the asphalt was sinking. Councilmember Pellegrin asked what the next step was. Ms. Giga responded they would need to do some exploratory excavation to determine why the holes were occurring and at that time take any necessary steps to correct the problem. Councilmember Pellegrin agreed with Councilmember Larson and believed they needed to determine were the problem was. . . . ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL - JULY 10, 2006 11 Jeff Lanasa, 3153 Shoreline Lane, stated they had a new driveway which was tom up when the City came in to do the street work. He stated they were told asphalt could be done and concrete was an option. He did not believe the asphalt was put in correctly and noted the work was done at night. He indicated they had a bunch of low spots where water sat and now they had asphalt disappearing. He stated the garage apron was also dropping. He stated this has been ongoing for a couple of years and they were eager to have this taken care of. He indicated it made sense to find the cause of the problem. He stated they wanted a functioning, draining driveway. B. TCAAP Ms. Barton updated on the Council on recent TCAAP developments. 9. COUNCIL REOUESTS A. Metropolitan Council Livable Communities Mayor Aplikowski read into the record a letter regarding the Metropolitan Council Livable Communities. B. Letter from Mayor Hoglund regarding US Mayor's Climate Protection Agreement Mayor Aplikowski read a letter from Mayor Hoglund regarding supporting the U.S. Mayor's Climate Protection Agreement. Mayor Aplikowski adjourned the Regular City Council Meeting meeting at 8:52 p.m. ~~ct7A~~~'~' ~~ ~ Mayor City Administrator NOTICE OF MEETINGS The next Council Meeting will be held Monday, July 31,2006 at 7:00 p.m. at the Arden Hills Council Chambers.