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HomeMy WebLinkAbout02-08-10-WS ----ARPEN HILLS Approved: February 22, 2010 CITY OF ARDEN HILLS,MINNESOTA - CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION MEETING FEBRUARY 8, 2010 5:30 P.M. -ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL Pursuant to due call and notice thereof, Mayor Pro-Tem Fran Holmes called to order the City Council Work Session meeting at 5:40 p.m. Present: Mayor Stan Harpstead (arrived at 5:47 p.m.); Council Members Brenda Holden, Fran Holmes, and David McClung. Absent: Councilmember David Grant (excused). Also present: Acting City Administrator/Finance Director, Susan Iverson; Parks and Recreation Manager, Michelle Olson; Public Works Director, Greg Hoag; Civil Engineer, Kristine Giga and Civil Engineer, Deb Bloom. APPROVAL OF AGENDA MOTION: Councilmember Holden moved and Councilmember McClung seconded a motion to approve the meeting a ends as presented. The motion carried unanimously(3-0). 1. AGENDA ITEMS A. Engineering 2009 Year End Review and 2010 Work Plan City Engineer Deb Bloom presented the City Council with the engineering 2009 Year End Review. She indicated the existing Joint Powers Agreement (JPA) included 1,670 hours of shared engineering services. The JPA provides Arden Hills access to a full engineering staff. In 2009 g 2,030 hours of work was completed for Arden Hills. It was explained the work was assigned to the most appropriate staff. Councilmember Holden asked for staff to review the top five expenses in 2009. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION—FEBRUARY 8, 2010 2 LA Engineering 2009 Year End Review and 2010 Work Plan City Engineer Bloom reviewed the items being 08-07: The 2009 Glenarden neighborhood with 270 hours; 08-19: Ramsey County TH 10/CR96 Improvements with 143 hours; 09-06: Perry Park with 264 hours; and 10-07 2010 PMP Valentine Avenue with 111 hours. She further reviewed how the hours were broken down between staff members. The core engineering services were then discussed. Councilmember Holden questioned how many of the City's total engineering hours were completed by interns. Civil Engineer Bloom stated interns worked on Arden Hills projects for 84 hours in 2009. Mayor Harpstead questioned how many engineering hours were budgeted for 2010. Civil Engineer Bloom indicated the City is currently committed to 1,670 engineering hours. However, the City could need around 2,700 engineering hours, based on the 2010 work plan. She explained that the 2010 work plan was quite full. The City will need to evaluate the priorities within the work plan. Discussion ensued regarding the estimated engineer hours needed for the City in 2010. Councilmember McClung stated the working relationship between the Cities of Arden Hills and Roseville has served the City well. He expressed concern about the number of hours needed and if the joint powers agreement should be reevaluated or restructured. The City may need to pursue y having an engineer on staff so the City would have engineering services on hand. Councilmember Holden agreed, stating the City spent over $460,000 in engineering expenses in p 2009. Councilmember Holmes questioned how the 1,670 engineering hours was broken down between engineers and interns. Civil Engineer Bloom noted the table in the memo. Further discussion ensued g re ardin the regarding 2010 workplan and staffing levels. Mayor Harpstead questioned if Falcon Heights would need more engineering hours in 2010. Civil Engineer Bloom stated Falcon Heights would be doing seal coat projects and probably not p y require more than their contracted 120 hours of engineering services. Mayor Harpstead asked for the hourly rate of a civil engineer. Civil Engineer Bloom stated the hourly rate for a civil engineer was $70-80 per hour. This came with 10+ years of experience from a registered engineer. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION—FEBRUARY 8, 2010 3 LA Engineering 2009 Year End Review and 2010 Work Plan Councilmember Holden indicated she was not interested in reviewing the joint powers agreement. She explained it would be difficult for the City to prioritize the work plan as the Council doesn't know how many hours each item requires. Councilmember Holmes questioned if the work could be completed if there were more capacity. Civil Engineer Bloom stated this was always an option. She explained she could provide guidance if the work plan were reviewed in detail. Mayor Harpstead summarized that the City had three options at this time. The City could contract with an outside engineer so that the projects to go forward. The second option would be to commit to increased capacity within the joint powers agreement, which would allow Roseville to hire additional engineering staff. The third option would be to address which projects could be deferred in order to reduce the engineering hours. Civil Engineer Bloom indicated option three would be staff s main .goal for the evening. g Reviewing the joint powers agreement and hiring additional staff would be a several month long process. Councilmember McClung suggested the Council further discuss the engineering ca acit needed p y within the City at an upcoming worksession meeting. This is an issue that will continue into the future unless staff was hired by the City or the joint powers were expanded. Councilmember Holden questioned if the 694/Snelling/HamlineJ ro'ect was moving forward. p g She indicated it would be difficult for the Council to prioritize items on the work plan without further knowledge on the projects. Civil Engineer Bloom stated from her understanding with MnDOT it was moving forward. Mayor Harpstead stated the overall engineering capacity of the City does need to be evaluated as there are a number of years with heavy work plans. He asked if the Council had any comments on items within the work plan that could be pushed out. Discussion ensued regarding the current g g work plan for February and March. Civil Engineer Giga stated her work plan for February and March primarily involves the Elmer y L. Andersen Memorial Trail connection project and the 2010 PMP- Valentine Avenue. At the next worksession meeting there would be follow up information g re ardin the Briarknoll noise regarding issues. Mn/DOT's I-694 project and Ramsey County's 10/96 project would also involve staff time in upcoming months. Councilmember McClung stated he was most concerned about the CP Rail project. He wanted to see the underpass constructed this year. Councilmember Holden questioned how the sewer lining projects worked. Civil Engineer Bloom stated there was engineering time involved in bidding g, creating the specifications and managing the construction. A technician assists with construction observation and project coordination while the contractor is on-site. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION—FEBRUARY 8, 2010 4 LA Engineering 2009 Year End Review and 2010 Work Plan Councilmember McClung cautioned the Council against continuing to outsource the engineering. At some point the City may need two outsourced engineers, which could have been avoided by bringing the work in house. Mayor Harpstead expressed there were not any items on the work plan with a low priority other than Arden Plaza, the County Road E Bridge and the Valentine Lake Watershed Drainage Study. He felt these three items would not need attention in the next three months. Councilmember McClung questioned what staff felt they would not have time for over the next three months. Civil Engineer Bloom stated the discussion tonight was a first step to address the engineering hours concern. She indicated this could be addressed further at the March worksession allowing staff time to assign hours to each project. Councilmember Holden expressed concern about the expense of monitoring construction and managing projects. She questioned if Ms. Giga had to oversee every project for the City, or if someone else within the engineering pool could be used to allow Ms. Giga to take on other responsibilities. Civil Engineer Bloom explained that the City benefited by having Ms. Giga overseeing the progress of the consultants to ensure they are done in a timely manner and on budget. Councilmember Holden questioned which projects Ms. Giga could not complete for the City. y Civil Engineer Bloom reviewed how projects were completed through Ms. Giga's service and coordination with Bolton & Menk and other consultants. There was very little time savings b g y shifting work to another engineer as it would still be managed through Ms. Giga. As there was no agreement at this time, the Council agreed to discuss the engineering work plan further at the March worksession meeting. B. City Administrator Recruitment Update Richard Fursman presented the City Council with information on the recruitment process noting there were 71 applications so far. He reviewed the City Administrator profile and asked that the Council consider how travel expenses will be reimbursed. The interview schedule was handed out and discussed. - Mayor Harpstead questioned how many of the applicants were from the state of Minnesota. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION—FEBRUARY 8, 2010 5 LB City Administrator Recruitment Update Mr. Fursman indicated that 19 applicants were from Minnesota, five from Wisconsin, four from Michigan and four from Illinois. All together, the applicants represented 28 different states. - Councilmember McClung asked how the applicants were fairing at this time. Mr. Fursman explained 25% of the applicants were considered good. The strongest candidates were out of state. Mayor Harpstead noted the deadline was February 15th and q y questioned how man more applications were expected. Mr. Fursman stated this was uncertain as but he did expect to receive a number of additional applications based on the calls he has been receiving. Over 230 profiles were mailed to individuals for direct recruitment. Mr. Fursman questioned how the City would like to handle transportation expenses through the interview process. He indicated the best candidates were from out of state at this time and were getting picked up quickly. These candidates were being recruited by a number of employers. Mayor Harpstead asked that the reimbursement concepts be reviewed further. Mr. Fursman reviewed the three concepts being a flat $500, $1,000 or just the cost of the hotel. Councilmember Holden questioned who would qualify for the reimbursement. Mr. Fursman noted these reimbursement expenses would be offered to the th top 5 candidates after they were chosen at the March 8 worksession meeting. The top five candidates would be brought in for interviews on March 26-27, 2010. If the candidate was local, there would be no expense to the City. Councilmember Holmes requested more information on what the reimbursement money would cover. Mr. Fursman stated transportation and hotel could be covered up to $1,000. He noted this would be based on expense reports with the maximum being $1,000 per candidate. Councilmember Holden asked how information was being gathered on out of state candidates. Mr. Fursman indicated it was his job to gather information and find people who have been associated with the candidate to get a full picture of the applicant. Mayor Harpstead questioned if the Council was willing to appropriate funds to assist in reimbursing travel expenses. He explained he was in favor of no more than $1,000 per candidate and hoped the majority of the top candidates were local. AR—DEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION—FEBRUARY 8, 2010 6 LB City Administrator Recruitment Update Councilmember Holmes agreed up to $1,000 and hoped that candidates were local. Councilmember Holden was comfortable with $500 in reimbursable expenses. Councilmember McClung was willing to go up to $1,000 in travel expenses and wanted to see the 10 best candidates,no matter where they were from. Mr. Fursman indicated the next issue was the proposed dinner with the candidates. He encouraged the Council to provide a relaxed atmosphere to have a couple of hours to speak with p p the candidates in an informal setting. This allows the Council to see how the candidates handle themselves in a setting outside of the office. Mayor Harpstead suggested holding an appetizer hour instead to increase the comfort level. Councilmember Holden felt the 4:30 to 5:30 time would not allow for enough time and could limit the number of City staff that could attend. Mayor Harpstead indicated the time could be changed to 4:30 to 7:30, allowing for a room change or shift in the group at some time. Councilmember McClung was in favor of the extended timeframe. Mr. Fursman stated this information would be confirmed on March 8th with the Council. Councilmember McClung asked if the Council was interested in having a group of citizens input the candidates to gain additional input. Mayor Harpstead was comfortable with this suggestion, having these members be Committee Chairs and or others. Councilmember Holden questioned who was planning the reception. Mr. Fursman indicated the City would handle the g p reception planning and food decisions. p Councilmember Holden asked if the Council would be reviewing more than 10 candidates. Councilmember McClung indicated at one point he did want to review all of the applications. He would like to see a sampling of the applicants. - Councilmember Holmes was in agreement that she would like to see more applicants than just pp the top 10 candidates. Richard stated he would provide this information for the Council on March 8th. ARDEN HILLS CITY COUNCIL WORK SESSION—FEBRUARY 8, 2010 7 2. COUNCIL COMMENTS AND REQUESTS There was nothing at this time. ADJOURN Mayor Harpstead adjourned the City Council Work Session meeting at 6:5 8 w w..... ....,.,. Susan K. Iverson gtan Ha ste .f/ Acting City Administrator Mayor