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HomeMy WebLinkAbout06-15-09-WS .. xA~HILLS Approved: July 27,2009 CITY OF ARDEN HILLS, MINNESOTA CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION MEETING JUNE 15, 2009 5:00 P.M. - ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, Mayor Stan Harpstead called to order the City Council Work Session meeting at 5:05 p.m. Present: Mayor Stan Harpstead; Council Members Brenda Holden, Fran Holmes (arrived at 5: 10 p.m.), and Dave McClung. Absent: Council Member David Grant. Also present: City Administrator Ron Moorse; Public Works Director Gregory Hoag; Finance Director Susan Iverson; Civil Engineer Kristine Giga; City Engineer Deb Bloom; Park and Recreation Manager Michelle Olson and Beth Kunkel Kimley-Horn. APPROVE AGENDA Mayor Harpstead indicated City Administrator Moorse had an additional item for discussion. City Administrator Moorse indicated he would like to add a 10- minute discussion on scheduling software called Share Point. Mayor Harpstead suggested this item be discussed after items A and B along with moving up Item E to allow Councilmember Holmes to participate. The agenda was approved with the noted changes. 1. AGENDA ITEMS A. Safe Routes to School/DNR Proiect Update ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION - JUNE 15, 2009 2 Park and Recreation Manager Olson presented the City Council with information on the Safe Routes to School/DNR Project. She reviewed that the City received ARRA funding to assist in this trail connection to the Elmer L. Anderson trail near Perry Park and the Lake Valentine Elementary School. City Engineer Deb Bloom further reviewed the success of obtaining the ARRA funding from the State. She explained only 10 projects were funded through these funds and gave a brief overview of what would be covered through the funds. City Engineer Bloom introduced Beth Kunkel from Kimley-Horn who has been working with the city on the wetland requirements. City Engineer Bloom noted involvement of four different agencies would be needed to complete this work: FEMA, DNR, the Army Corps of Engineers and Rice Creek Watershed. City Engineer Bloom reviewed the project timeline in detail explaining that several permits would need to be granted before the work could begin. Mayor Harpstead questioned if this item needed Council approval before proceeding. Park and Recreation Manager Olson stated the information presented was merely information and that staff has all of the approvals necessary to proceed. Councilmember Holden asked if the Safe Routes to School sidewalk could begin prior to receiving the permits. Park and Recreation Manager Olson stated that all permits would need to be in place before the project could begin. She explained that this project wasn't expected to begin until early spring of 2010. All environmental documentation including permits must be approved before November 13, 2009 in order to secure the ARRA funds. Councilmember Holden questioned the expense of the project to the City. City Engineer Bloom reviewed the expense of the project indicating that the City would be responsible for $84,608 for Safe Routes to School and $25,750 for Perry Park. It was reiterated that the grant funds were only to be used for construction and did not cover the permit and engineering/administrative fees. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION - JUNE 15, 2009 3 Park and Recreation Manager Olson stated that the city received a $10,000 donation from Boston Scientific for this project noting they were very supportive of the safe routes to school program. Mayor Harpstead thanked staff for the information presented and for working so well with the agencies needed to complete this project. Councilmember McClung thanked staff as well for their efforts on this project. It was the consensus of the City Council to direct staff to proceed with the Safe Routes to School/DNR Project as presented. B. Celebrating Arden Hills Park and Recreation Manager Olson presented the City Council with information on Celebrating Arden Hills. She explained that Council made it a goal at the Annual Retreat for the PTRC to discuss the future of this event. Park and Recreation Manager Olson indicated this was discussed in detail at a PTRC meeting with the consensus of the group being to create a subcommittee to allow those interested to become more involved. She stated at this time there are five members on the committee with the first meeting being held on May 26,2009. Park and Recreation Manager Olson noted the next step would be to set a date and begin structuring the event budget. She indicated there were competing events during the summer and that a fall festival could be a possibility. Park and Recreation Manager Olson stated the subcommittee would continue discussions and has generated several great ideas already. She noted the group would seek sponsorship from local businesses to assist with the budget. The budget from the 2006 event was reviewed. Park and Recreation Manager Olson questioned what the Council would be comfortable with for the budgeted event in 2010. She also asked for additional comments or questions that the Council may have that could be brought back to the subcommittee. Further discussion ensued regarding the potential date of the event. It was noted that the City would receive more involvement from local businesses if held on a weekday. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION - JUNE 15, 2009 4 Councilmember Holden stated it would not be economically responsible for the City to be spending $50,000 on a festival with the state of the economy. Mayor Harpstead indicated that the levy limits could also play into the planning of this event as well. Councilmember McClung explained that a tax increase could not be justified to assist in funding this event, based on the current stated of the economy. Councilmember Holden stated she would like to see the event planned in such a way that it encouraged community interaction. Mayor Harpstead suggested a Friday afternoon event, with vendors providing food, music, entertainment, etc. with the evening ending with fireworks. He stated his top end for the event would be $25,000. Councilmember McClung agreed stating he felt the event should be no more than $25,000 and that donations should be sought by the subcommittee to assist in the expense that the city's contribution was limited to $10,000 to $15,000. Mayor Harpstead suggested that any surpluses from 2009 be funneled into an account for the celebration. The Council was in favor of this recommendation in hopes of having $10,000-$15,000 to contribute to the event. Councilmember Holden suggested that donations be sought from the community for cash along with other donations for the event. She indicated the EDC should be contacted as well to see if they would like to participate in a showcase of local businesses at the event. It was the consensus of the City Council to pass along this information to the Celebrating Arden Hills subcommittee. E. Council Communications City Administrator Moorse explained that Councilmember Holmes has raised a question about the communication tools being used by the Council at this time and if there was a way to improve the way information is shared between the Councilmembers and staff. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION - JUNE 15, 2009 5 Councilmember Holmes stated she would like to be able to better pass information onto the other Councilmembers and questioned if this was in violation of any open meeting regulations. City Administrator Moorse cautioned the Council from passing along too many emails but that messages could be sent for informational purposes. He stated that these messages should not be replied to. Mayor Harpstead suggested that these informational emails be printed and placed on the public materials table at the next public meeting. Councilmember Holmes agreed. Discussion ensued regarding the Council's retention policy in handling electronic communications. Finance Director Iverson stated the City of Roseville was drafting a data privacy policy at this time that would be adopted by the entire Metro- Inet Group once completed. Mayor Harpstead suggested staff present the Council with some email retention guidelines at a future meeting. F. Scheduling Software - Share Point Finance Director Iverson indicated that the City has established an email address for each Councilmember through the City's server. She reviewed the instructions on how to get to these accounts through Share Point in detail. Councilmember Holden questioned why the new accounts were created. Finance Director Iverson stated this would assist in a central calendar for the Councilmembers. She noted the Council would have access to a single calendar through the City's Intranet to allow meetings to be scheduled more easily. Finance Director Iverson stated the information on this site was considered public. She explained there were many features available on this site that the Council could use to post public information. Discussion ensued regarding the new intranet system. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION - JUNE 15, 2009 6 Mayor Harpstead suggested that the new data privacy policy be considered with this communication tool. He asked that this item be used by the Council for the next several months and brought back for further discussion to see how it was working. C. Public Works PMP & Equipment Replacement Plan Civil Engineer Giga reviewed concerns previously brought to staff about the condition of some of the seal coated streets. Staff reviewed these streets in the field and determined that the seal coat was performing well, but the pavement beneath the seal coat was dry & causing the peeling of the pavement. She indicated the 5 year PMP was adjusted to include these streets within mill and overly projects. Mayor Harpstead questioned if the Valentine Avenue neighborhood moved up in the maintenance sequence. Civil Engineer Giga reviewed the proposed 5-year street improvement schedule with the Council. Councilmember Holden expressed concerns with the condition of West Floral Drive. Public Works Director Hoag stated the neighborhood does need to be reconstructed but that it was not as bad as some of the other neighborhoods. Councilmember Holden questioned why there were so many watermain breaks in one area of the City near Venus and Fairview. She asked if they were fixed in 2004 if they should need repair again in the near future. Civil Engineer Giga stated multiple breaks in one area indicated the poor condition of the soil and pipe overall. Councilmember Holmes questioned if the recurrent PMP plan took into account watermain breaks. Public Works Director Hoag indicated the soil conditions impacted the conditions of the streets and water main pipes greatly. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION - JUNE 15, 2009 7 Civil Engineer Giga explained the age of the pipes was considered along with the condition. She noted on previous drafts, West Round Lake Road was due on 2012, which was removed at this time. Mayor Harpstead questioned if the TIF dollars could be used for this project and incorporated into the PMP schedule. Finance Director Iverson stated she would resend to the TIF analysis memo to the council on eligible uses for TIF funds the city currently has. Mayor Harpstead stated he would also like to see a traffic count from Old Snelling if available. Councilmember Holden indicated she would like to see an expense run to fix all the potholes along Old Snelling to review against the full replacement expense. Mayor Harpstead questioned how much a feasibility study would be. Civil Engineer Giga projected the engineering costs to be 20% of the construction costs, with the feasibility report being 10% for the Old Snelling project costs. She stated a survey of the conditions could be completed. Councilmember Holden expressed concern for the cost of this project and questioned how it would be assessed as the City may end up paying for 90% of the $2 million. Civil Engineer Giga explained this was a State Aid street, which the Council should keep in mind, to assist in offsetting the expense. Mayor Harpstead clarified that State Aid funds could be used on the Valentine Avenue neighborhood and that the financials should reflect this. Further discussion ensued regarding the upcoming major pavement projects within the City. Councilmember McClung suggested completing larger projects every couple of years to allow the City to receive a greater economy of scale while also allowing the City. to replenish their funding sources on the years no projects were completed. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION - JUNE 15, 2009 8 Councilmember Holmes indicated the City would not want to miss out on MSA funding if the schedule were to change. She stated she did not want to see the City resort to bonding. City Administrator Moorse stated he would not object to shifting around reconstruction projects but that the overlay projects should not be delayed as it could affect the base of the roadways. Councilmember Holden agreed. Mayor Harpstead agreed that this could become a concern but stated the City may benefit from completing a large project at once using MSA funds and bonding. He suggested North Valentine, South Valentine and Valentine Park be completed as one project and financed together. Councilmember Holmes stated she may be in favor of this, as an exception and not the rule. Public Works Director Hoag cautioned the Council from shifting around the reconstruction and overlay schedule too greatly as it would continue to shift the expenses from year to year. He explained that the PMP schedule is laid out to provide manageable projects long term from the public works perspective. Councilmember Holden suggested the Council proceed as staff has proposed with Valentine North, while information is gathered for Valentine South. Civil Engineer Giga stated the earliest Valentine South could be ready would be 2011 in order to complete the survey, neighborhood meetings, etc. Mayor Harpstead suggested that staff report back to Council on the Old Snelling project with something lower than a full feasibility report to see how this project can be amended. Discussion ensued regarding the Arden View Drive and who would be assessed for this proj ect. Civil Engineer Giga indicated the townhome association would be assessed for the overlay. She stated that she would look into how this would be completed and report back to the Council. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION - JUNE 15, 2009 9 Public Works Director Hoag reviewed equipment information with the Council and apologized for not getting the information to them in a more timely fashion. He noted the primary focus was on the next two years, focusing on the needs and condition of the current equipment. Public Works Director Hoag asked for comments or questions from Council. Councilmember Holden noted $116,000 was being requested in 2010 for two vehicles. Mayor Harpstead agreed with this recommendation as it would provide the department the type of vehicles they needed to complete their work without needing a different vehicle later on. Public Works Director Hoag stated this was the case; the suggested purchase would eliminate the need for a I-ton dump truck in the future which would be replaced by a pick-up truck. He indicated a large part of this purchase was the $14,000 lifting crane for pulling pumps. Mayor Harpstead questioned the age of the vehicle being replaced along with the miles on it. Public Works Director Hoag stated the vehicle was over nine years old and had over 112,000 miles with a twisted frame. He noted this vehicle was used daily to check the pumps, water towers and complete Gopher One calls. This vehicle is used daily as the workhorse for the City. Mayor Harpstead indicated he was in favor of this vehicle purchase and stated the other vehicle purchase would allow the City to work on sidewalks, switching from a John Deere tractor to a bobcat. He noted it would cost less than replacing the existing tractor. Public Works Director Hoag explained that after thorough evaluation this recommendation made the most sense. He indicated that the John Deere would be sold if the new purchase was approved. Councilmember Holden asked for clarification on the bobcat purchase and if this would assist the City with five and six foot sidewalks. Public Works Director Hoag stated there were numerous options with attachments, allowing for five or six foot sidewalks to be cleared. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION - JUNE 15, 2009 10 Councilmember Holden questioned how the bobcat would work on an incline and on the City trails. Public Works Director Hoag stated this was an articulating 4-wheel drive vehicle and has heard no complaints from other cities on this piece of equipment. Councilmember McClung questioned what the resale value would be for the John Deere tractor. Public Works Director Hoag projected that the resale value would be good for a 20-year-old vehicle, as it was in good condition. Mayor Harpstead indicated his concern was in 2011 as he was not crazy about the cost of a combination Jet Vac. He felt they were not used enough hours to warrant a new purchase and questioned if they could be jointly purchased with a neighboring community. Councilmember Holden questioned what was wrong with the vehicle mechanically and how the City used this vehicle. Public Works Director Hoag explained how the vehicle was used to clean the sewers each year, along with clearing emergency sewer blockages. He stated the body of the vehicle was starting to deteriorate. Councilmember McClung indicated the exterior of the vehicle did not warrant the purchase of a new vehicle, as it was in good mechanical order. Public Works Director Hoag stated the timing of this purchase was important as the City could get several more years out of the vehicle but that the replacement expense could then increase in the future. Further discussion ensued regarding the replacement of the jetter and vactor vehicles. Mayor Harpstead expressed concern on the combination of the jet-vac. He suggested that additional preventative maintenance be considered. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION - JUNE 15, 2009 11 Public Works Director Hoag stated that he would not be replacing equipment that did not need replacement and that the future equipment expenses could be reduced if at all possible. Mayor Harpstead thanked staff for pulling together this information and for providing a good discussion on these upcoming expenditures. Public Works Director Hoag explained how the capital expenditure funds have been designed to cover the large expenses based on the five-year plan through enterprise funds. D. Police Services City Administrator Moorse reviewed the current arrangement of police services provided by Ramsey County. He stated the main overall question was if the City was satisfied with the general level of service. Councilmember McClung indicated it was difficult to evaluate their services because they do not provide the City with requested information. He stated he was horribly dissatisfied with the information received from Ramsey County. Councilmember Holden explained she saw a police presence on County roads but that they should be patrolling the Arden Hills City streets as well, and let the County general fund pay for the patrols along the County roads. She stated that there needs to be a presence in the neighborhoods on a daily basis. Mayor Harpstead stated he felt the agreement was written well but the question remains if the City was gaining through the scope of services provided. He further reviewed the details within the agreement. Mayor Harpstead indicated there were concerns with the level of service being provided to the City. Councilmember Holden agreed stating she was disappointed with the lack of enforcement with overnight parking in a City park. Signs do not have to be posted to enforce this as it was written in City code. Further discussion ensued regarding the police services provided to the City of Arden Hills. Mayor Harpstead suggested that each Councilmember draft a letter with bullet points to be reviewed with the sheriff in a meeting. He stated he wanted to assure ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION - JUNE 15, 2009 12 that the budget was following the agreement and if the police activities were following the agreement. Councilmember McClung questioned if the agreement would now be renewed year to year or every three years. City Administrator Moorse stated the contract did have a three-year term and could be cancelled with a nine-month notice. Mayor Harpstead suggested the City Attorney review this agreement as well and compare it to other City's that he represents. Councilmember McClung indicated Allina has invested into GPS tracking software for ambulances, which allows them to monitor where each vehicle is at any given moment. He noted this would be useful to assist the City in monitoring where the patrol vehicles are within Arden Hills. Councilmember McClung added that the City needs further information on how the County was meeting the needs of the City and upholding the current agreement. City Administrator Moorse asked if staff should work for changes on the agreement or begin seeking a new provider. He stated there definitely needed to be an increased presence and directed patrols within the City. Councilmember Holden stated it took a lot of time and effort to find the current provider. Councilmember McClung indicated that an RFP would allow the City to further evaluate the performance of the services provided to the City. He suggested the current response times be reviewed to calls within the City. 2. COUNCIL COMMENTS AND REQUESTS Park and Recreation Manager Olson stated an application was turned in today for the Bridge and connecting trail for County Road E. She noted the bid came in at $1,050,900 for the entire project including a trail from Old Snelling to the proposed bridge. Park and Recreation Manager Olson indicated this information would be passed along to Council for further review. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION - JUNE 15, 2009 13 Park and Recreation Manager Olson explained that Royal Hills has a large bank of flowers above a retaining wall that is full of poison ivy. She stated it continues to be a problem and questioned if the Council would be in favor of transplanting the plants this fall to other gardens with wildflowers planted into this space, to reduce the maintenance needed. Mayor Harpstead indicated he had no problems with this suggestion but cautioned that the poison ivy be completely killed off to eliminate the concern. He suggested a master gardener be contacted to reduce the maintenance in this area while reducing the poison ivy. Councilmember Holden questioned why the plants were being transplanted. She felt that it was not worth the risk. """'----.