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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCCWS 07-18-2005 . ~ . ~~ILLS Approved: August 8, 2005 CITY OF ARDEN HILLS, MINNESOTA CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION MONDAY, JULY 18, 2005, 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, Brenda Holden Absent: Council Member Lois Rem Staff present: City Administrator, Michelle Wolfe; Finance Director, Murtuza Siddiqui; Assistant to the City Administrator, Schawn Johnson; Operations and Maintenance Director, Tom Moore; Recreation Program Supervisor, Michelle Olson; City Engineer, Greg Brown 2006 Lift Station and Lift Station #7 Rehabilitation (In coniunction with Presbyterian . Homes) City Administrator Michelle Wolfe provided the City Council with a11 overview of the proposed 2006 lift station rehabilitation project. At the July 11th City Council meeting, staff requested authorization to prepare plans a11d specifications for this project. Members of the City Council tabled this item and requested that City staff place this item on the July 18th work session agenda. City staff was requesting authorization to spend $26,600 to perform design and field survey work for the lift station rehabilitation project. Based upon the discussion at the April 11 th work session, City staff recommended that the City proceed with Option D. Option D included the preparation of plans and specification for the remaining four stations whieh are scheduled for replacement in the near future. If the proposed 2006 project moves forward, it would be based upon further financial analysis during the budgeting process and receipt of satisfactory bids. If the project is delayed due to financial concerns or a poor bid environment, the design and field survey data would still be of use to City staff in the future. The field survey work would offer the following benefits to the City: 1. Determine a good estimate for 2006 budget preparation purposes; 2. Provide the opportunity for City staff to bid the project early and potentially take advantage of a more competitive field of contractors. Councilmember Holden asked how long the performance design information would be valuable to the City. . ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORKSESSION MINUTES July 18, 2005 2 . City Engineer Greg Brown said that the performance design information has no shelf life. The only thing that would change over time is the cost of the project. The design would continue to remain the same. Councilmember Grant asked staff when did the bid schedule change. City Engineer Brown said that the plan was to obtain bids this fall. Councilmember Grant said that he remembered the lift station bidding process was going to be pushed back. He is concerned about a balance of under $500,000 in the sewer fund, if the City proceeds with rehabilitating four lift stations next year. Finance Director Murluza Siddiqui said that the sewer fund balance would go below $500,000 if the City rehabilitates the four lift stations in 2006 and does not make any changes to scheduling of other future projects that involve the sewer fund. City Administrator Wolfe noted that the proposed rehabilitation of the four lift stations coincides with future diseussion regarding the 2006 budget and CIP. Councilmember Grant asked about the proposed utility rate increases for 2005 to 2009. . City Administrator Wolfe said that staff's intention was to eomplete the pre-design portion of this project and utilize that information to create a better financial forecast for the future. Councilmember Grant asked what is the failure rate for the lift stations. Operations and Maintenance Director Tom Moore said that the failure rate is one or two times per year. A problem for City staff is that some of the lift stations are very old and it has become increasingly difficult to order replacement parts. City Engineer Brown stated that lift station failure can cause the most legal and insurance exposure to the City, due to sewer back-ups and basements flooding in the City. Mayor Aplikowski said that it makes sense for the City to complete design and field survey work on the lift stations. Councilmember Holden asked if there is an advantage to advertising for bids in late fall or early winter. City Engineer Brown said that pricing is typically better during those times. This allows the contractor more time to order parts and complete preparations for future projects. Councilmember Grant asked if the proposed Civil Engineer position with the City of Roseville . would be able to handle this type of project. 2 ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORKSESSION MINUTES July 18,2005 3 . City Administrator Wolfe said that she was not sure at this time. It would depend on the background and qualifications of the engineer. Councilmember Larson stated that the City is not committed to this project. He would like to receive more information in order to make an educated decision on the lift stations. Maybe after reviewing the five year CIP, the City could find some cost savings that would result in not raising the utility rates for the residents in the future. Also, the designs would be ready-to-go for the lift stations. Couneilmember Holden noted that the City could proceed with four lift stations or just replace two lift stations at this time. City Engineer Brown stated that City staff will evaluate the different options (2 or 4 lift stations). Hopefully, it will be less expensive for the City to reconstruct four lift stations at once. This item will be placed on the consent agenda at the August 8th City Council meeting. Lift Station #7- City Engineer Greg Brown stated that Presbyterian Homes has been discharging illegal materials into the City's sanitary sewer system. In the past, the illegal discharges have ereated sewer . blockages. Presbyterian Homes currently has five separate services that connect the facility to the City's sewer system. City staff has met with Presbyteriall Homes and has suggested that chopper pumps be installed at lift station #7 to minimize the number of blockages. Presbyterian Homes has ordered two of the chopper pumps for the lift station. The City and Presbyterian Homes are currently in negotiation and working on a formal agreement for the installation of the two chopper pumps. The estimated cost for the chopper pumps is six to seven thousand dollars eaeh. Presbyterian Homes is seeking some financial reimbursement from the City equal to the value of the pumps. City Engineer Brown recommended that Presbyterian Homes and Arden Hills share the maintenance costs for the lift stations. Parts and materials for the chopper pwnps would be the responsibility of Presbyterian Homes. A memorandum of understanding will be created regarding this financial arrangement with Presbyterian Homes. Councilmember Holden asked why a chopper pumps was not installed earlier. City Engineer Brown said that it was a change in philosophy. Therefore, these type of pwnps would not be necessary but for the materials from Presbyterian Homes. However the installation of the chopper pump is a win-win for both parties. Presbyterian Homes will continue to educate their staff and residents what items cannot be disposed of in the sewer system. Mayor Aplikowski agreed with City staff that a memorandum of understanding should be pursued with Presbyterian Homes. City Engineer Brown said that he will pursue an agreement in . which both sides share the costs. 3 ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORKSESSION MINUTES July 18, 2005 4 . Mayor Aplikowski recommended that Presbyterian Homes be charged with a flat rate for maintenance costs. Presbyterian Homes should be responsible for the costs associated with the chopper pump. City Council requested that a draft agreement between the City and Presbyterian Homes be brought forth to the City COill1cil for further review and discussion. Celebrate Arden Hills Recap Recreation Program Supervisor Michelle Olson provided the City Council with a11 overview of the 2005 Celebrate Arden Hills operating budget. The City obtained $19,100.00 in sponsorships for this year's event. This was an increase of $4,000.00 in sponsorships from 2004. The projected cost to the City's general fill1d is $25,000. The City budgeted $30,000 (net of revenue) for this year's event. Recreation Program Supervisor Michelle Olson asked the City Council if they were comfortable with the current event set-up. The Barbeque Dinner is the only event that participants must purchase tickets. Councilmember Holden asked if attendance for this year's event was larger than last year. . Michelle Olson said that this year's crowd appeared to be larger. Most of the participants stayed for all of the events. Approximately 400 tickets were sold for the barbeque dinner. Mayor Aplikowski asked ifthe City should sell buttons for this event. Recreation Prograln Supervisor Michelle Olson asked if the participants would be required to wear a button. COill1cilmember Grant estimated that 800 people attended this year's event. Mayor Aplikowski said that the extended hours and additional children play structures were very popular. Councilmember Holden said that she would like to see more local companies financially support this event. Mayor Aplikowski stated that the City may want to recruit more volunteers to assist with the fundraising efforts. Councilmember Larson suggested that the City change caterers or vendors every two years. COLmcilmember Holden is concerned that the City subsidized $11,000 for the BBQ dinner. . Councilmember Grant commented that the City is large enough to host such an event, but may not be large enough to expa11d this event in the future. 4 ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORKSESSION MINUTES July 18, 2005 5 . Couneilmember Holden said that the crowd may have been smaller due Roseville's annual celebration going on at the same time. Mayor Aplikowski said that this event typically draws younger families and older adults. Michelle Olson requested City Council input regarding the ehanging of caterers and different aspects of the day long event. We seem to have problems selling tickets and it is very hard to giver the caterer an exact number for the BBQ dinner. Councilmember Larson suggested that the Recreation Program Supervisor meet with the event organizers from other communities to see what they do to raise money. It is important that the City focuses on different ways to increase revenues for this event. City Administrator Michelle Wolfe suggested that the City alter the catered dinner approach for one year. Councilmember Larson stated that he is less concerned about the financial risk to the City, if the local event can obtain more participation from the business community. He believes that the City should focus its attention on bringing in more revenue. Possibly recruit and focus on more . sponsorship related activities. It is important to explore what other communities do to fund these types of events. Mayor Aplikowski said that she enjoyed the extended hours for the children events. She recommended that the BBQ tiekets have the actual day of price on top of the ticket and (he advance purchase reduced rate on the bottom of the ticket. The City should work on obtaining more sponsorship from the business community. The food issue should be brainstormed by the City Council and City staff. Possibly consider inereasing the ticket prices for next year's event. The City should explore the possibility of changing caterers but eontinue to keep the event as is. City Administrator Michelle Wolfe provided an overview of the conversation by stating that City staff should explore different ways to increase revenues and explore other ideas for the BBQ dinner. Mayor Aplikowski stated she does not believe it is staffs role to seek sponsorships for this event. Councilmember Holden suggested that we ask businesses for donations earlier so that they can budget for the event. City Administrator Wolfe said that a meeting could be arranged with the local businesses to get them involved earlier in the planning process. . Councilmember Holden suggested that the City contact Land 0' Lakes to budget their donation for next year's event. 5 ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORKSESSION MINUTES July 18, 2005 6 . Mayor Aplikowski asked City staff to contact the event organizer for New Brighton, Mounds View, and Shoreview. Members of the City Council will contact community members to brain storm different revenue raising ideas for the Celebrate Arden Hills event. Shared Enl!:ineerinl!: Services with the Citv of Roseville City Administrator Michelle Wolfe provided the City Council with an overview of the proposed shared engineering services with the City of Roseville. The City of Roseville is also discussing this item at their work session meeting tonight. The last time City staff met with Roseville's representatives, the decision was made to inform the respective City Councils of this idea and to seek authorization to proceed with the development of an agreement. Councilmember Holden asked why a civil engineer would want to work for two different communities. City Administrator Wolfe said that technically the engineer would be a Roseville employee. It would be very diffieult for Arden Hills to recruit an engineer being that we do not current have a registered professional engineer on staff. A civil engineer must be supervised by a registered professional engineer in order to obtain his/her license. . Councilmember Larson requested that staff move forward with this proposal, but he is concerned about sharing services with a second community. It could result in some project delays. City Administrator Wolfe estimated that this employee would be dedicated to the City of Arden Hills a large percentage of the time. The City would also have aceess to the other engineering services being offered by the City of Roseville for the remaining percentage of the time. In the future, additional staffing may be needed if the TCAAP project moves forward. Members of the City Council were comfortable with the idea of continuing to explore the sharing of engineering services with the City ofRoseville. Proposed Shade Tree Ordinance Operations and Maintenance Director Tom Moore provided the City Council with an overview of the draft shade tree ordinance. City staff has reviewed the shade tree ordinance for the Cities of New Brighton, Columbia Heights, Andover, and Shoreview. After reviewing the existing ordinance, City staff determined that it would be more advantageous to revise the existing ordinance. The intention of the proposed ordinance is to more clearly define the tree removal proeess and the City's regulations regarding the role of the City Forester and proper procedures for removing shade trees that are eonsidered diseased and unsalvageable. City Administrator Wolfe stated that the proposed ordinance contains underlining and language strikes of new and old language in the draft ordinance. The new ordinance ties together the City's shade tree and public nuisance ordinances. . 6 . . ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORKSESSION MINUTES July 18, 2005 7 . Councilmember Holden requested a year by year statistics be provided to the City Council of public and private trees that are removed on a yearly basis, with updates on a more regular basis. Operations and Maintenance Director Moore said that he will provide an on-going tally of the public and private trees that are being removed. Councilmember Holden asked when is a tree considered dead? What if a resident wants to try to save the tree through chemical or mechanical means? Operations and Maintenance Director Moore said that typically a tree consultant is brought in to review the situation to determine if the tree could be saved using chemieal or mechanical means. Mayor Aplikowski asked what is the difference between chemical and mechanical intrusion. Operations and Maintenance Director Moore said that mechanical means is when a trench is dug around the tree. The chemical treatment involves injecting a chemical into the ground around the tree forming a ehemical barrier. City Council requested that the City insert clarifying language regarding root treatment of trees and also how to deal with new tree diseases. The City of Minneapolis tree ordinance was suggested as an example. . The proposed ordinance will be brought to a future City Council meeting for further review. Council Reports David Grant Councilmember Grant reported that there is a sink hole on the Chatham trail that is need of repair. Councilmember Grant asked if the City is having any problems with water pressure or levels at the City's water towers. Operations and Maintenallce Director Moore reported that there have been no problems with water pressure or water levels. Councilmember Grant asked if the perennial plants are being watered. Operations and Maintenance Director Moore reported that O&M staff members have been watering the newly planted trees and flowers. Councilmember Grant reported that the Refuse Hauler Task Force has completed its assignment and will be submitting a report to the City Council at a future meeting. . The meeting adjourned at 7:30 PM 7 , "" ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORKSESSION MINUTES July 18, 2005 8 . Respectfully submitted by Schawn P. Johnson ~~ O~~~~. Beverly ApI' ow i, MAYOR Michelle A. Wolfe, CITY ADMINISTRATOR . . 8