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HomeMy WebLinkAbout07-08-24-SWS City of Arden Hills ▪1245 West Highway 96 ▪ Arden Hills Minnesota 55112 Phone 651.792.7800 ▪ Fax 651.634.5137 ▪ www.cityofardenhills.org Request for Special City Council Work Session A special meeting may be called by the Mayor or by any two Councilmembers. Reason for meeting: 1. Public Inquiries/Informational 2. Response to Public Inquiries 3. Agenda Items A. Compensation Study Update B. Great River Greening Update C. Tobacco License Moratorium Discussion D. Arden Manor Hardcourt Improvements Discussion E. Code of Conduct F. Rice Creek Commons/TCAAP Discussion G. Agenda Planning 4. Council/Staff Comments Adjourn Requested Date: 07/08/2024 Requested time: 5:00 pm Open meeting X Closed meeting Signature of person(s) making request: 07/05/2024 Mayor or Council Member Date / / Council Member Date -This section to be completed by City staff- Date received: 07/05/2024 Date meeting to be held: 07/08/2024 Time of meeting: 5:00 pm Location: City Hall All necessary posting and notices have been completed. 07/05/2024 Signature of City Clerk Date -AikQEN HILLS Approved: August 12, 2024 CITY OF ARDEN HILLS, MINNESOTA SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION JULY 8,2024 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 Special City Council Work Session at 5:00 p.m. Present: Mayor David Grant; Councilmembers Tom Fabel, Brenda Holden and Emily Rousseau Absent: Councilmember Tena Monson(excused) Also present: City Administrator Dave Perrault; Public Works Director/City Engineer David Swearingen; Finance Director Joua Yang; Community Development Director Jessica Jagoe and Assistant to the City Administrator/City Clerk Julie Hanson 1. PUBLIC INQUIRIES/INFORMATIONAL None. 2. RESPONSE TO PUBLIC INQUIRIES None. 3. AGENDA ITEMS Mayor Grant requested Item 3B be addressed prior to Item 3A. B. Great River Greening Update Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen stated at the April 24, 2023 Work Session, this topic was first presented to the City Council. Direction was received to partner with Great River Greening (GRG) to apply for state funding to go towards buckthorn and general habitat management projects at selected parks in Arden Hills. Some of the parks discussed were Hazelnut Park, Chatham Open Space, Floral Park and Perry Park. Since then, GRG has been successful at attaining available funds for the City of Arden Hills through the Outdoor Heritage Fund grant program. On April 16, 2024 the PTRC discussed the project proposals from GRG. The PTRC ARDEN HILLS SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION—JULY 8, 2024 2 voted to approve the projects as proposed and move it to the City Council for discussion and further direction. Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen reported on April 22, GRG gave a presentation for the full project proposal and background. Council direction was to bring back estimated costs for long-term maintenance needs and exact minimum City cash match requirements and an example of a Natural Resource Management Plan. The estimated maintenance needs costs and cash match requirements were reviewed with the Council. The example Natural Resource Management Plan was sent to Council for review prior to the meeting. Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen explained GRG notes that volunteer labor cannot be counted towards in-kind City match, in previous discussions it was believed that it could be. Examples of in-kind City labor or contracted services are, but are not limited to, staff time or Arden Hills contracted activities that accomplish a management task within the acres of the project that is required for the completion of the project which otherwise would have been paid for by the grant, such as prairie mowing or woody material removal or disposal. Council should keep in mind when this project was first introduced, it was under the assumption that Public Works would be involved very minimally or not at all during the actual remediation process but would need to plan for the long-term maintenance. If it is Council direction to utilize Public Works as in-kind labor match during remediation, staff will need to schedule this work within the annual Public Works Maintenance Plan and will likely cause more items to be backlogged for repair or maintenance. Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen indicated long-term maintenance of the 26.03 acres will increase the annual maintenance and operations budget. GRG has provided an estimate for each project site over a span of the first 5 years, the actual amount is not known at this time. If all project sites are approved and completed, the estimated maintenance costs would be $12,830 per year on average or $64,150 total over 5 years. The required activities for long- term maintenance is beyond the Public Works Department's current standard procedures. Public Works staff also believes that in order to adequately manage this program, it should be by a person specialized in natural resources. Arden Hills does not currently have a position specifically for natural resources. Becca Tucker, GRG, stated she met previously with the Council to discuss potential projects. She explained after that meeting she met with City staff to address questions that were brought up. She indicated the dollar match for the projects was discussed, along with the budgets for future park management. She asked if the Council had any further questions. Mayor Grant stated it was his understanding the maintenance agreement would remain in place for 10 years. Todd Rexine reported this was the case, noting the maintenance agreement would run for 10 years after the grant was done. Councilmember Fabel asked if the maintenance agreement was part of the contract with GRG. Mr. Rexine stated the City would have to maintain the property in good faith at the same level, with buckthorn removed for 10 years. ARDEN HILLS SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION—JULY 8, 2024 3 Councilmember Holden requested further comment on how"maintenance"was defined. Mr. Rexine stated "maintenance" was defined as a good faith effort to maintain the buckthorn removal that had been completed going forward for 10 years. Councilmember Rousseau explained she was interested in this for Chatham Park. She understood Councilmember Monson and herself were interested in a park master plan. It was her hope this plan could address both park amenities and natural resources within the City's parks. She believed the pricing for the park cleanup was reasonable. She indicated her only concern was if staff could support the required maintenance efforts. Councilmember Holden stated the only thing the Council has agreed to was the buckthorn removal. Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen reported some ground work and species identification would also be required. Councilmember Holden indicated there could be a hundred different invasive species within the park that the City would have to then maintain. Mr. Rexine reported the main focus for the grant funding would be buckthorn, but information on the other threats would be provided to the Council. Councilmember Holden asked if the cost for the seed was included in the grant. Mr. Rexine stated this was included. Councilmember Holden clarified the grant would cover buckthorn removal at Hazelnut and Floral Park as well as the cost for putting seed down. She questioned what happened with in kind work. Mr. Rexine explained City's cannot be held accountable for what volunteers put into a site. Mayor Grant indicated he was concerned about the project management for this work over the next 10 years. Councilmember Fabel inquired if the City can use volunteers during the 10 year maintenance period. Mr. Rexine stated this would not be a problem. Councilmember Fabel asked how the proposed long-term maintenance was beyond current City procedures. Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen explained the state the parks were in at this time met current park standards. He reported the City has done buckthorn removal in the past five years. However, remediating and maintaining 26 acres of land would be going above and beyond what staff was doing today. ARDEN HILLS SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION—JULY 8, 2024 4 Councilmember Fabel questioned if the grant funding would take this expense into consideration. Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen reviewed Attachment A with the Council noting the five year recommended actions for the remediated acreage were above and beyond the efforts followed by staff today. Councilmember Fabel inquired if this work could be done by summer staff. Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen reported this could potentially be done by summer staff, but noted these resources were very limited. However, he noted there would have to be City staff oversight, coordination and management in order to maintain proper control. Councilmember Rousseau asked if the City could move forward with this project in the spring of 2027, or would it have to begin in 2025. Ms. Tucker explained this would depend upon the grant funding the City would receive or pursue. Mr. Rexine commented on the funding that was received for Floral Park and stated the funding for Hazelnut Park was still in the works. Councilmember Holden questioned if the work that has already been done at Hazelnut Park would count towards the hours. Ms. Tucker reported this would count because it was within the same time period. Councilmember Holden asked who would be in charge of this project if the City were to receive funding for this project. Ms. Tucker indicated Todd would be the grant manager, but the work coordination would be done by her and David would remain the staff contact, while coordinating with the PTRC. She explained any decisions would be run by her through the City before work was completed. Councilmember Holden inquired if this was something staff could handle procedurally. Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen stated was the case, noting this would be a similar relationship he had with other contractors. Ms. Tucker commented on how the PTRC would be involved in this project. Jill Anderson, PTRC Member, stated she would be happy to provide information to the Council or reports could be made to the City Council by Council Liaison Rousseau. Further discussion ensued regarding the bidding and contract approval process. Councilmember Fabel questioned what the urgency was to enter into a contract with the City. ARDEN HILLS SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION—JULY 8, 2024 5 Ms. Tucker reported the cooperative agreements had to be in place before she could begin work on the projects. Councilmember Fabel inquired if there were other cities that have entered into similar agreements with GRG. Mr. Rexine reported he has agreements with Mendota Heights, St. Louis Park, Dakota County, Andover, Anoka, Ramsey, Mahtomedi, Vadnais Heights, and St. Paul Water Works. Councilmember Holden stated for this budget year, the City would have to come up with $4,000 for Hazelnut Park. She questioned if the City had any maintenance funds within the budget. Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen indicated he could work with the finance director on this matter. Councilmember Holden asked when the Floral Park project would have to be paid for. Ms. Tucker reported the City would have five years to begin this project given the fact new grant funding was available. Mayor Grant questioned when GRG needed a decision from the City Council. Mr. Rexine stated he needed an answer on the smaller project yet this summer. Councilmember Holden inquired who would be brought in to remove the buckthorn. Ms. Tucker reported she had a list of six or seven contractors to complete this work. Councilmember Rousseau clarified if the City invested about 14%, along with some staff time, the City would end up with $54,000 for Hazelnut and $215,000 for Floral Park to combat buckthorn. Ms. Tucker stated this was the case. Councilmember Holden asked if any of the funding could be used for education events. Ms. Tucker indicated educational events could be sponsored by the City with this funding. Mayor Grant reported it appears the Council wants to move this item forward. He recommended staff be directed to move this project forward. The Council was in agreement. A. Compensation Study City Administrator Perrault Introduced Tessia Melvin with DDA and noted the intent of the evening's discussion was to go over options regarding the ongoing compensation study. Tessia Melvin, David Drown Associates, provided the Council with a presentation on the City's compensation study. She discussed the goals of the study which was to ensure jobs were competitively aligned with the market. She reported the City was currently at 95% of the market ARDEN HILLS SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION—JULY 8, 2024 6 and 14 employees were maxed out at this time. She reviewed the current pay grid along with two separate pay philosophies with the Council and discussed how each would impact the City. She commented further on several job classification changes that should be made. Mayor Grant questioned what the average population was to the benchmark communities. He anticipated the average was much higher than the population of Arden Hills. City Administrator Perrault reported some of the communities had a population larger than 10,000 and some were below 10,000. Mayor Grant commented on how the benchmarks were always shifting and moving based on where that City may be in their own compensation study. He asked why so many job classification changes were recommended. Ms. Melvin stated the last job description classification study was completed in 2014. She commented further on how jobs had changed and more was being expected of employees in the past 10 years, especially after COVID. City Administrator Perrault commented on how staff would be considering changes to the Public Works department. Councilmember Rousseau stated she was interested in the cut three/add three steps. She indicated it may be better to revisit the maintenance workers at a later date along with a discussion on the Public Works department. Councilmember Holden indicated she did not have enough information on this. She questioned how much the levy would have to be increased in year 2, year 3, and year after year. She stated she would like more information on the overall impacts. She explained at this time she would support Option 2. Ms. Melvin stated she could cost out the options for 2026, 2027 and the following years. Mayor Grant indicated there was not much of a difference from a financial perspective between Options 1 and 2. He explained at this time, he supported Option 2 and recommended pay increases be done on anniversary dates and not the first of the year. Councilmember Holden stated the 3% COLA may not be reality because inflation may be higher than 3%. Ms. Melvin commented this was the difference between COLA and a market adjustment. Councilmember Rousseau asked what the average cost was to replace an employee. Ms. Melvin estimated this to be $30,000 for training and the overlapping of duties. Councilmember Fabel stated he was in favor of Option 1. Mayor Grant indicated Option 2 puts the City at 5% above the market and Option 1 was 8% above the market. ARDEN HILLS SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION—JULY 8. 2024 7 Mayor Grant requested staff reach out to Councilmember Monson to see which option she prefers and report back to the Council. City Administrator Perrault questioned what other data the Council would like from staff. Mayor Grant indicated he would like further information on maintenance workers along with the cost of doing a larger COLA and a staggered implementation plan. C. Tobacco License Moratorium Discussion Assistant to the City Administrator/City Clerk Hanson stated currently, there are five businesses that hold an active City tobacco license: Brausen Holiday, Cub Discount Liquor, Cub Foods, Holiday Stationstore (on Hwy 96) and Walgreens. In late 2023, the City's sole standalone tobacco store forfeited its license following compliance issues. No standalone stores currently operate in the City. On December 11, 2023, the City Council adopted a one-year moratorium regarding the issuance of new tobacco licenses in the city effective November 23, 2023. This would afford the City Council time to consider if it would like to make any changes to license fees, violation fees, capping the number of licenses issued (related to tobacco product stores or to the total number of licenses issued anywhere in the city, regardless), and zoning. Please note the moratorium ends November 26, 2024. Assistant to the City Administrator/City Clerk Hanson reported State Statute does not regulate the number of licenses a city can issue. State Statute §461.12, Subd. 2 does set forth the minimum fees for violations; however, cities can choose to impose higher fees. Council may decide not to change the current rule in Arden Hills of no cap on the number of licenses issued and make no changes to the current license and/or violation fees, or Council may want to consider changes such as capping the number of standalone tobacco stores, capping the number of all licenses allowed in total at one time in the city, or zoning regulations. Currently, tobacco sales are allowed as a principal, accessory or conditional retail use. Following Council direction, Staff can work on any proposed necessary ordinance drafts for future consideration. Councilmember Rousseau asked if there were criminal penalties for individuals who sell tobacco to minors. Assistant to the City Administrator/City Clerk Hanson reported a staff member from the City of Mounds View stated they move to court citation. She indicated Arden Hills fines businesses $600 for a first violation and $1,200 for a second violation. She explained court violation was recently given to an Arden Hills business after their third violation. Councilmember Holden asked if new cashiers at stores with a tobacco license had to be trained. Katie Engman, Association for Nonsmokers-MN (ANSR) explained this was not written into State law, but new cashiers were encouraged to be trained. She commented on how the driver's licenses now had dates on when individuals turn 18 and 21. Mayor Grant inquired if the Council wanted to change its violation penalties. Councilmember Holden stated she liked Roseville's penalties. ARDEN HILLS SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION—JULY 8, 2024 8 Councilmember Fabel indicated he did not want to advocate for citations, rather he wanted to see fines and licenses impacted. He stated he would be okay with increasing the fines. Councilmember Rousseau explained she could support the violations being changed to be similar to the city of Roseville. Council consensus was to move to Roseville's violation penalties in 2025. Mayor Grant questioned if the City wanted to cap the number of tobacco licenses in the community. Councilmember Rousseau supported capping the number of licenses at six. Councilmember Holden indicated the City could always increase the number of licenses in the future. Assistant to the City Administrator/City Clerk Hanson reported this was correct. Mayor Grant explained he would support capping the number of licenses to five. Councilmember Holden recommended the City greater define where tobacco can be sold. City Administrator Perrault stated if the Council did not want to cap the number of tobacco licenses, the City could make the sale of tobacco an accessory use so as to do away with standalone tobacco shops. Councilmember Rousseau supported this recommendation. Councilmember Fabel believed this was a matter of fairness. Mayor Grant indicated he could support the City limiting the number of licenses as well as limiting tobacco sales as an accessory use. Further discussion ensued regarding cannabis sales. Councilmember Holden asked if tobacco sales would become an accessory use in all zoning districts. City Administrator Perrault commented tobacco sales would become an accessory use the retail business corridor along Lexington and home occupancy would be omitted. Councilmember Holden supported the City setting a cap on the number of licenses to five at this time. Councilmember Rousseau recommended the number of licenses be capped at six. Councilmember Fabel suggested the idea of putting a limit on the different categories for each tobacco license. ARDEN HILLS SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION—JULY 8, 2024 9 Councilmember Rousseau indicated she could support this option as well. The Council recessed the worksession meeting at 6:56 p.m. The Council reconvened the worksession meeting at 8:00 p.m. Councilmember Holden supported the City setting the limit of tobacco licenses to five. Councilmember Rousseau supported setting the limit to six or to set limits per business type. Councilmember Fabel supported setting limits for grocery stores, gas stations, liquor stores and drug stores. Mayor Grant supported limiting the tobacco licenses to five. Community Development Director Jagoe discussed how a land use amendment may be required if the City were to make tobacco sales and accessory use for retail/commercial businesses. She indicated she would have to refer with the City Attorney regarding this matter. Ms. Engman stated she understood other communities have not allowed tobacco only shops. Mayor Grant recommended the City grandfather in its current businesses but that the use not be expanded. He stated he did not want to see tobacco only stores in Arden Hills. The Council discussed not setting a cap on the number of tobacco licenses, but rather to allow tobacco licenses within gas stations, liquor stores, grocery stores and drug stores and to restrict tobacco only shops. Ms. Engman reported the City may want to put a cap in place in order to create an even playing field. She indicated this would be easier to understand for existing and future businesses. Mayor Grant questioned what the fee for tobacco licenses should be. Assistant to the City Administrator/City Clerk Hanson indicated the fee has been $300 the entire time she has been with the City. Council consensus was to recommend the tobacco license fee remain $300 per year, to cap the number of licenses issued at 6 and to not allow standalone tobacco stores in the city. D. Arden Manor Hardcourt Improvements Project Discussion Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen stated on July 10, 2023, City Council approved Change Order #1, removing the Arden Manor Park hard court improvements scope of work from the 2023 Arden Manor Park and Floral Park Improvements Project Contract with Peterson Companies. At the December 18, 2023 Work Session, City Council gave City staff direction to pursue the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Program to fund the Arden Manor hardcourt construction and construction administration, while utilizing PIR-Parks funds to fund the grant application and `Shovel Ready' design work in order to increase the competitiveness of the grant application and complete construction in 2024. At the January 8, ARDEN HILLS SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION—JULY 8, 2024 10 2024 regular City Council meeting, Council approved the Professional Services Agreement with Bolton&Menk for design, grant application and construction administration. Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen explained since then, staff has been made aware, from representatives of the CDBG program, that the program will not be available for this project in 2024 due to limited staffing resources. Bolton & Menk has suggested that the City consider pursuing the MnDNR Outdoor Recreation Grant program to assist with funding, providing a 50% match on construction costs and to allow the project to still be constructed in 2024. Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen reported a competitive application was submitted to the MnDNR Outdoor Recreation Grant program on April 1, 2024. Staff recently found out that the MnDNR Outdoor Recreation Grant program received $16.5 million in grant requests for an available $4.6 million of funding. Unfortunately, this project was not selected for funding this year. With the design and construction documentation work that has already been completed for this project, it is ready for public bidding, if desired. Bidding of the project does not commit to construction of the project and will allow staff to assess potential next steps and economies of scale with the park projects identified in 2025. Councilmember Fabel asked if there would be any cost to submitting a grant for this project. Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen stated there would be some administrative fees to apply for the next round of grants. Councilmember Fabel explained he supported the City applying for another round of grants. Councilmember Holden questioned if Peter Lindstrom at the Met Council could be contacted to see if there was funding for this project. Mayor Grant supported this recommendation given the fact the CDBG grants did not come through and the fact that this was an underserved community. Councilmember Rousseau inquired how this project was budgeted originally. Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen explained this project was initially budgeted as a CDBG project that was to be fully grant funded. He further discussed the history of this project noting the City was awarded $189,000 in 2021. He commented on how inflation had impacted this project. City Administrator Perrault reported last year the Council determined the court surface could wait one more year in order to allow the Council to pursue additional grant funding. He indicated the Council could try to get additional grant funding in 2025. Councilmember Rousseau recalled the Council completed a pickleball court in the Floral Park neighborhood last year instead of completing Arden Manor hardcourt. She stated this did not feel like a good decision given this was an underserved community. She was hopeful the City could receive funding from the Met Council in order to move this project forward. ARDEN HILLS SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION—JULY 8, 2024 11 Councilmember Holden explained the Council did not select pickleball over Arden Manor. Rather the City pursued grant funding for the hardcourt improvements and this grant did not come through. Mayor Grant indicated the Arden Court project should have scored well for a CDBG grant and unfortunately the County did not have staffing to administer the program. He indicated this project was still a priority for the City Council and he was hopeful the County would have funding and staffing next year. Councilmember Holden stated the City Council was told by the County to come back next year and the City would receive grant funding. Mayor Grant commented it was unfortunate that Arden Manor would have to wait one more year. He believed it was prudent to pursue grant funding. Councilmember Rousseau supported the City also pursuing grant funding from the Met Council. Mayor Grant agreed. Public Works Director/City Engineer Swearingen reported if grant funding were pursued this would push the project to next year. E. Code of Conduct Mayor Grant asked if the Council wanted to have all five members present when discussing this matter as Councilmember Monson was not present at this meeting. Council consensus was that all five members should be present to discuss this item. F. Rice Creek Commons/TCAAP Discussion City Administrator Perrault stated Council will have the opportunity to comment on any TCAAP related items they so choose. Councilmember Holden asked what the problem was with her asking questions from the bench during Council meetings. Mayor Grant did not believe there was a problem. He stated he had questions regarding TCAAP as well. Councilmember Fabel indicated City Administrator Perrault can only report on the discussions that have been held and the information may not be real. Mayor Grant supported the City Administrator Perrault responding to questions with the understanding no items were done and completed because nothing was in writing. G. Agenda Planning City Administrator Perrault reviewed the upcoming agenda items. ARDEN HILLS SPECIAL CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION—JULY 8, 2024 12 Councilmember Holden reported the CIP and Capital Funding discussion would take a quite a bit of time. Mayor Grant agreed this would be a longer discussion and was a critical item. City Administrator Perrault stated perhaps the Council could hold the meeting earlier. Councilmember Holden stated another option would be to hold a separate CIP/Capital Funding worksession on its own night. Councilmember Rousseau supported this recommendation and suggested the meeting be held on August 5 or August 19. City Administrator Perrault reported the JDA would be meeting on August 5, but noted August 19 could be held as a budget overflow worksession. Mayor Grant proposed Council Salaries be discussed by the Personnel Committee prior to this item being addressed at a future worksession. The Council was in agreement with this suggestion. 4. COUNCIL COMMENTS AND STAFF UPDATES None. ADJOURN Mayor Grant adjourned the Special City Council Work Session at 8:53 p.m. Julie ason David Grant City CVrk Mayor